


Pinch Me

by LeNoLifeLoser



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, F/M, I wanna say this is an easy going fic but then Costia hit me like a train so, On to the real tags I guess, anyway so they share their pain, but it wont be horribly painful, detailed descriptions of Costia's wounds, havent decided what point yet, hopefully, i dunno this is gonna be canon up until a point, it might be, please?, someone stop me before this gets to 100 chapters yeah?, theres some mentions of torture, these binches are soulmates godDAMMIT, this is uh getting complex, we all know how costia died so, yeah I know it sounds kinda angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 12:00:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 67,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7314409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeNoLifeLoser/pseuds/LeNoLifeLoser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><br/>Abby inspected the girl, but nothing was there. No irritation, no bumps or bruises, there was no reason for pain. “Does it feel like you got hit?” Clarke nodded, letting out a whimper. Abby sighed, but then Clarke let out another yelp, hands flying to her cheek as tears streamed down anew.<br/><br/>Then Abby understood. “That’s your soulmate.” She cooed, pulling her daughter into a hug.<br/><br/>“Soulmate?” Wells piped up from beside her.<br/><br/>Abby nodded, setting down again and letting Clarke curl into her lap. Wells hopped up beside them and turned to her expectantly. “You see, every person has someone very special out there in the world. This person is the person you’re meant for. They can be your best friend or your spouse or anyone, really. But there’s a connection between you and your special person. Every ounce of pain you feel, your special person feels too, and vice versa. It seems Clarke’s soulmate is a little clumsy huh?” Abby tried to goad Clarke into laughing. But the little girl was focused very hard, eyebrows scrunched together and pouting adorably. She stared off into the distance, completely still, except for the occasional hiccup.<br/><br/>"I wanna help them." She whispered stubbornly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So how's it going? This little number is just a fluffy side project to help lighten up my life while I'm writing Out of the Sky, that project is massive and takes a lot of energy and effort so this one is minimal effort and all fun. All of this is improvised, nothing planned out. It's gonna kind of follow canon until I feel like breaking away to do whatever comes across my head. But these binches are soulmates so that's the main focus of this. Not gonna be nearly as plot heavy as OotS, but there will most definitely be angst, hopefully balanced out with some tooth rotting fluff. Enjoy my fluffy side pet.  
> Oh! And check out my tumblr, it's all about writing, but it's a better way to talk to me if you're interested. Please? I'm lonely. http://nolifeloserwriting.tumblr.com/

Lexa made a note to thank Anya’s soulmate one day, when they revealed themselves, because she owed her free afternoon to them.  


Lexa rested against Costia’s chest, enjoying the sun on her face and the rare opportunity to allow her aching muscles rest. Costia sighed every few moments in contentment, weaving flowers into Lexa’s hair and gently brushing against her cheekbones with her fingertips.  


“So tell me, Leksa. How did you manage this little miracle?” Costia murmured, a teasing lilt in her voice. “You’ve been let off your leash.”  


Lexa chuckled, the sound tapering off into a hum as Costia’s fingers massaged her scalp. “I got into an argument with Onya. One of the Natblidas angered Titus and I was late to training. She told me if I could defeat her, I would have the day off.”  


Costia hummed. “I don’t believe you.”  


Lexa sat up to level a playful glare at the other girl. Costia’s golden hazel eyes narrowed, she may not be a warrior, but she’d never back down from a challenge. “I’m hurt, hodnes. Where is your faith in me? I’ll be a full-fledged warrior soon.”  


“Soon, but not yet.” Costia teased, placing a kiss to Lexa’s cheek. “Tell me how you really managed this. Anya won’t be hunting me down because you skipped training will she?”  


Lexa grinned. “No. I did win the fight. I may have had help.”  


“Oh?”  


“Anya and I were blade to blade,” Lexa started dramatically, wiggling an eyebrow just to make the other girl giggle. “But just as she was about to strike, Anya’s Keryontai must have burned themselves. Anya dropped the knife and I struck. I won the fight and my freedom.” Lexa puffed her chest out in pride, sending a wink towards Costia. “I was superior.”  


Costia laughed, shoving Lexa away by the shoulder. “You were lucky.”  


Lexa pulled Costia to her, placing a sweet kiss to her lips. “I’m always lucky, I have you.”  


Lexa smirked as Costia very nearly swooned. But burst into free laughter as Costia shoved her away again. “Shof op!”  


Lexa’s laughter died down, leaving her breathless in the grass, looking up at Costia with all of the innocence of the young girl she was. “I mean it, hodnes.”  


Costia heaved a happy sigh as she moved to curl up beside Lexa. “I’ve missed you this last few weeks.”  


“I’ve been busy.”  


Costia traced patterns across Lexa’s shoulder. “I know. I missed you anyway.”  


Lexa turned, placed a kiss to the crown of the other girl’s head and looked back to the clear sky. They watched the sun move above them before sinking towards the horizon, the comfortable silence broken by snippets of conversation, peals of laughter, and occasionally a jab to the ribs, the only thing, Costia found, that made Lexa squirm.  


Their afternoon- because that’s what it was when Lexa wasn’t being ground into the mud by her mentor’s heal, theirs- was cut short by a huffing messenger boy. He was young, too young to be a second, but old enough to sprint at full speed to find someone and tell them they were needed, and sweat streamed down his face. “Leksa kom Trikru, Heda is dead. The Conclave begins at nightfall.” He reported briefly, not even making eye contact with the girls. Likely there were more details that he’d simply missed or forgotten, but the gist was enough.  


With that, the boy was off, sprinting away to deliver some other message. Completely unaware of the turmoil his message left in Lexa. Costia seemed to register it first. “No-“  


Lexa shot to her feet, ripping the flowers from her hair and mechanically removing her armor and weapons from where they hung from the tree. “I must go.” Her heart clenched. “Heda is gone.”  


“Lexa-“  


“The spirit must choose between us.” Lexa continued as if Costia hadn’t spoken. “Eight of us will die, and one will ascend, raised by the flame.” She was reciting the line driven into her head by Titus since she could toddle, but that didn’t mean it really brought her any comfort.  


Costia pulled Lexa away, pushing her against the tree trunk so that Lexa was looking at her. “Lexa you can’t. Luna will kill you.”  


“If I die, then it is meant to be.”  


Costia was crying, Lexa would have wiped them away, but she couldn’t think to do anything but prepare for battle. “Lexa, you can’t let yourself die.”  


Lexa raised her chin. “I will kill them if I must. But if they should kill me first, I die for Heda.”  


Costia gaped at her, eyes red, tears dripping from her chin. “Leksa, ai hod yu in. You cannot die. Understand? You won’t die.”  


“Ste yuj.” Lexa whispered.  


Lexa pushed past Costia, back to the last of her armor, and after the last tie was in place, she jogged off to find Anya. She would need whatever last minute guidance her mentor had to offer.

 

Clarke was pissed. She was going to take someone down. In fact, that’s where she was heading right this minute. She stormed through the halls of the Ark, shoving past any poor soul to get in her way. She was going to kill that girl dammit.  


Wells had been nothing but good to her and she broke his heart. She had to go. Sure they were thirteen years old. Sure they knew nothing about dating, or how to have a healthy relationship, or really anything about being in love, but that didn’t mean that Wells wasn’t heartbroken. And that certainly didn’t mean his protective best friend wasn’t going to take the girl down.  


Nothing would take her from her war path. Absolutely nothing. She was in an awful mood to begin with. A day full of phantom pains in her arms, legs, occasionally a blow to the ribs or head, all of it was grating on her. This wasn’t like her normal pains, those were dull and went away, these ached, sharp and stinging, and painful.  


She had made it just a few doors down from the girl’s home before her chest caved in. Clarke couldn’t even yell out, it felt like her lungs had constricted entirely. She clawed at her own chest, trying to free the scream building up inside, but nothing came forth, instead, she gasped and collapsed to the floor, a silent sob forced its way from her throat. Clarke barely noticed the hands surrounding her and lifting her up before she passed out from the pain.  


When Clarke woke, she was in her mother’s hospital, and the pain in her chest had only lessened a little bit, it was a dull ache, throbbing, but not to the timing of her own heartbeat. Clarke was used to that sensation, the feeling of pain that you knew wasn’t yours. Wells told her that he rarely felt anything at all, but when he did, it always disoriented him to feel throbbing that didn’t match up to his own heartbeat like it should.  


Clarke found it comforting sometimes, but this was beyond anything she had ever felt. Something important must have happened, and it had devastated her soulmate.  


“Hey, Clarke.” Abby sighed as she entered her room, setting her clipboard down. “What happened?”  


“Soulmate,” Clarke sighed, her hand coming to rest over her chest. “Something bad must have happened.” Her chest flared again, and then ebbed. “Is happening.” She grunted.  


Abby nodded sadly. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I know-“  


“Yeah.” Clarke cut her off. She didn’t need her mother’s fake sympathy. Abby didn’t know. Her soulmate, while wasn’t her father, rarely hurt themselves. She didn’t know what it was like to be in constant pain. She didn’t know what it was like to have a soulmate in constant, frequent agony.  


Clarke had been certain for a couple of years that perhaps her soulmate was being abused, but there was no way someone on the Ark could get away with beating their kid so frequently around the face. There was no way her soulmate didn’t have obviously visible bruises. So there was no way her soulmate could be on the Ark.  


That only left Earth. Abby continued to chatter on about whatever small damages Clarke had acquired during her fall and of the kind people who had carried her to the hospital. But Clarke’s mind was pulled to Earth. Every time she brought it up, her mother would remind her that it was impossible, humanity had been wiped out, and they were alone. But that made no sense. There were so few people on the Ark, everyone would find their soulmate, but in fact, finding one’s soulmate on the Ark was rare. Mathematically, it didn’t add up. Radiation was evidently high on Earth, and Clarke was sure that caused higher than normal instances of cancer and debilitating mutations, but if a majority of the people on the Ark never found their soulmates, then that meant that their soulmates had to be on the ground. It was the only thing that made sense.  


“Clarke, are you listening?” Abby didn’t wait for a response, she knew the answer. “Why were you even in that station in the first place?”  


Clarke shrugged. “Wells and Sabrina broke up. I wanted to talk to her.” Clarke decided it was best not to reveal her more violent intentions towards the girl. Besides, by the look Abby gave her, her mother already knew.  


“Well, I suggest you get some rest at home, I need this bed for another patient. Wells is here, he said he’ll walk you home and make sure you get everything you need.” Abby sighed, gesturing for Wells to pull aside the curtain and step towards Clarke.  


He still looked a little sad, but Clarke could see the glimmer of recovery in his eyes. He smiled a little brighter and gave her a mocking look. Clarke knew she was going to be teased, but that look only confirmed her suspicions: this would be a long walk home.  


A few more minutes, the last dregs of Abby’s lecture, and the two were off, dragging their feet down the halls of the Ark towards Clarke’s home. “So, on your way to Sabrina’s huh?” Wells began, smirking over at his friend.  


Clarke huffed. “She broke your heart, I was going to break her arm.”  


“Only her arm I hope.”  


“Whatever Wells!” Clarke pushed him away, wincing at residual pain in her chest.  


Wells noticed, of course, he was always more empathetic towards others than Clarke was. “Has it at least subsided a little?”  


Clarke rubbed at her chest. “It hurts a lot. Not as bad as it did, but it was awful. I’m worried about them.”  


Wells threw his arm around her shoulders and rubbed her arm with his hand soothingly. “I know. I’m sure wherever they are they’ll make it through.”  


Clarke nodded, resting her head on his shoulder as they turned a corner, coming to a stop outside her door. “Thanks, Wells.”  


He smiled brightly. “Anytime. And Clarke, stay away from Sabrina okay? I’ll be fine, just a little wounded pride. Get some rest.”  


Clarke nodded once more before entering her home and collapsing onto the couch in the main room of her home. Her parents weren’t home yet and they wouldn’t be for a while, but Clarke was grateful for the alone time.  


Her chest ached, like her lungs weren’t doing a good enough job raking air in. The rest of her body hurt, sure, she felt like she’d been hit by a truck, but nothing compared to the painful squeezing of her chest. It felt like an iron vice had clamped around her heart and started squeezing. Whatever her soulmate was going through right now, she’d never felt anything like it before.  


For the first time in her life, Clarke was genuinely afraid for her soulmate. Something truly awful must have happened to make them feel like this, and all Clarke could do was feel it with them. Something deep inside Clarke begged her to do something about it, lessen her soulmate’s pain somehow, help them in some way. But there’s nothing she could do when she was an entire planet away.  


Finally, Clarke fell into a restless sleep, lulled by the pounding time of a heartbeat that wasn’t hers. She dreamt of noble battles and the clashing of steel as a masked figure bravely fought, born to wield the sword in their hands.


	2. Chapter 2

“Titus, for the last time, shof op.” Heda snapped. “My orders are clear and final and you will respect them. I want silence from you when she returns. In fact, you will not be seen by her at all.” She leveled a steely glare at the bald man keeping pace at her side. “I will not risk you jeopardizing this negotiation.”  


“Heda, I would never-“  


“I thought I told you to quiet yourself.” Heda stopped her pace to angle her body towards him, squaring her shoulders and pointing her chin. One eyebrow raised in a silent challenge, but her gaze never lifted from the eyes of the unflinching man before her. She may be shorter than her fleimkappa by nearly an entire head, but she still cut an intimidating figure, she had been Heda for nearly two years now and she knew how to hold herself to get what she wanted. Titus had held power behind closed doors since her Ascension. Heda was not blind to his subtle manipulation, Costia made sure of that, but for the most part, Titus was right.  


Titus knew what he was doing, he had served two previous Heda, and he knew intimately how the Trikru people accepted and served their leaders. He knew what they would support, and what they would not. He knew what would make them celebrate their Heda, and what would cause them to dethrone her, to take her head and find a new Heda.  


But this was different, Titus, she knew, was staunchly against her plans, despite the obvious advantages. He had gotten used to power, had gotten used to control over Heda, but she was grown now, an adult at fifteen winters. She could not allow him to ruin this opportunity. They had the chance to stop the bloodshed. With work, she would never have to send another warrior off to battle, to die and leave their Keryontai behind, writhing in the agony that comes with the death of the soul bound to them.  


But for that to happen, Titus must back down, and allow Heda to do her job, to fulfill her birthright, the duty given to her by the very blood in her veins. “Leave, Titus. If I see you anywhere near her, or her guards, I will have no choice but to levy severe consequences. Your title as fleimkappa will do little to protect you.”  


Titus swallowed heavily, a single, curt nod his only answer before he turned on his heal and scurried away. Heda would not tolerate his meddling today. She was not to be trifled with, not today. Her patience had been waning since the scout summoning the new leader of the Floudonkru had left the Polis tower, and it was in his best interest to remain out of her sights.  


Heda stretched her shoulders silently, ensuring that her coat and armor were straight, and that her sash hung correctly. She would meet Luna Kom Floudonkru for the first time since they came face to face on Ascension Day, and she must make it clear that she was no longer a child. She would no longer hold foolish beliefs of comradery or kinship with anyone outside of Trikru. They would not be meeting as enemies or combatants, but as possible allies, and she must convey strength sans hostility.  


She stepped from the Polis tower into the sunlight, and the little activity in what was considered the central market of Polis died down. The traders at the market stands bowed their heads in solemn respect, and those milling about the street cheered quietly.  


Heda bowed her head in response, a faint smile resting on her lips. Her people created a small crowd around her, parting a small path as she stepped forward. They reached out to touch her, never more than a gentle pat or a grasp of a shoulder, the slightest tug of her jacket or the brush of her sash. They murmured her title in reverence, words of thanks and love on the tips of their tongues as she walked past.  


A child stepped into the path, a tiny thing, barely old enough to form proper sentences, but very aware of the legend that had come to a stop before him. A bright smile shown through the dirt and dust smeared across his face and every ounce of his being. He had bright blue eyes, a rarity in the population these days, though not for the Azgeda, and his hair could have been lighter, but it was so matted with mud it fell closest to a dark brown. “Heda!” He called out, and a hush fell across the crowd. The child was obstructing her path, and no one knew how the famed strategist and warrior would react. The child was innocent, sure, but they were a brutal people, and they raised brutal leaders. “Heda!” He giggled, staring up at the woman, she towered over him, just about as much as the tower behind her loomed over her.  


Then the child raised one grubby hand and opened it to reveal a crumpled and filthy flower. The child had probably held it too tightly for too long, and a petal floated from between his fingers to the ground. “Heda!”  


Heda bent forward, taking the half dead thing from the little boy and tucking it neatly in one of her braids, near her temple, she passed him then, a gentle hand coming down to ruffle his hair despite its grease and filth. The crowd around her letting out a soft breath, a soft rumbling beginning in the back, the incident would not be forgotten in the minds of those people, the witnesses of the exchange. A brutal warrior did not have to be unkind, gentleness did in fact belong in the heart of a leader.  


But their Heda had important matters to attend to, like greet the strangers riding through the market upon horseback, a straight backed young woman with sharp features and an even sharper gleam in her eyes at the forefront. A hood covered her curly, frizzed hair, perhaps not to obscure her identity, but to give some sort of mystery to her figure.  


Heda would not be fooled. She knew this woman, Luna, she knew very well what this woman was capable of, and what she was not. Heda owed her life to Luna, but Luna also owed her own life to Heda. There was no sense of “evenness” when it came to saving one’s life, when it came to being warriors of the Trikru. There was an unbreakable bond that came with saving one’s life and having their own saved in return. Loyalty and fondness grew in the ranks of an army, not necessarily for a leader, but for each other. And when it came to life and death, there was no way to repay debt. After all, how could Heda possibly allow her people to march to their deaths in battle if she put value on a soul, on a life? If life can’t be bought, then life certainly couldn’t be repaid.  


They started with this knowledge.  


Luna dismounted her horse, stepping forward hesitantly, eyes darting to the crowd of Trikru watching curiously. Though none of these people were warriors, they were farmers and hunters and artisans, they could still very well overwhelm her very small party of Floudonkru warriors. Heda paid her discomfort no mind, instead stepping forward and offering her hand. Luna hesitated only a moment, a moment barely noticeable to the crowd, before she took the hand, grasping Heda’s forearm firmly.  


“Luna Kom Floudonkru, welcome to Polis, I trust you will find your short stay here peaceful. We have much to discuss, my friend.” Heda gave a small, polite smile. “Follow me, I will have Zana show your guards to the stables. My people will provide any necessities your guard will require.”  


“Thank you, Heda Kom Trikru. My guards and I appreciate the hospitality.”  


“Of course, all guests of Polis are given utmost consideration.”  


The two young leaders entered Polis tower, and stepped into the familiar cage of the elevator. Both women having grown up riding this elevator between lessons and training, the squealing and lurching of the cage as it was manually pulled up the many stories of the tower did not fill them with apprehension expected of people unfamiliar with the elevator. For the first time since Ascension, the two were alone with each other. “You’ve grown quite a bit in these last years.” Luna spoke quietly, as if afraid of being found out of turn.  


“I have,” Heda agreed. “As have you, Luna.”  


“It is good to see you doing well.”  


Lexa nodded. “I’m surprised you’ve managed to gain this position. In just two years of banishment from the Trikru, you have risen to the highest position of the Floudonkru.”  


Luna raised her chin as the cage lurched again. “Not without its struggles. I befriended the previous leader of the Floudonkru when I fled to his lands. He took me in as a granddaughter of sorts. The old man finally succumbed to illness six months ago.” Luna glanced to Heda Kom Trikru. “He found my reasons for leaving noble.”  


Heda cleared her throat. “Titus has been ordered to keep his space from you. We will respect the Floudonkru and their ways, there will be no attempt on your life, and if there is, I will punish the culprit with charges of treason, for disobeying my explicit orders as Heda.”  


One side of Luna’s mouth tilted up in a smirk. “You run a tight ship here.”  


“Please, Luna,” Heda drawled. “Your strange Floudonkru turn of phrase is lost on me.”  


Luna snorted. “I’m glad to see that leadership has not completely destroyed your personality. I trust Costia had much to do with it?”  


Heda’s joking mood slipped. “I suppose. Here we are, come join me in the war room, we can discuss an agreement immediately. I’ll have some food brought up for you, I’m sure the journey was long and you could use some fuel.”  


“Mochof, Heda.”  


They stepped from the elevator and walked, side by side, down the labyrinth of halls they both knew intimately. Silence except for the heavy footfalls of their boots against the floor.  


Upon entering the war room, Luna’s hands ghosted upon the dutiful table, chipped and scratched and torched in areas from a century of use as the table that planned hundreds, maybe thousands, of skirmishes, battles, and full blown wars. Now, the table was covered in just as many maps as always, but the layout entirely unfamiliar to the Floudonkru leader. She had been privy to the previous commander’s system of organization, but this Heda, she was unorthodox in every sense of the word.  


Heda offered Luna a seat at the table, taking her own seat at the head. “Now, Luna Kom Floudonkru, I’ve had enough with the niceties, as I’m sure you are as well, let’s get to the reason I summoned for you to return to Polis.”  


“I expect it will be the last time?” Luna warned.  


Heda smiled wryly, she would not be intimidated. Not by Luna. “I intend to propose an alliance.”  


Luna furrowed her brows. “The Floudonkru is a peaceful nation. We do not fight in wars. Our warriors are only for the protection of our goods. They are only defensive, with orders to never attack unless attacked themselves. An alliance with us is foolish.”  


Heda shook her head. “No, Luna, not an alliance for war, a true alliance. I want to create a coalition, a bond of the clans, we will have free trade between our peoples, and the Trikru armies will come to your aid to defend against pirates, thieves, and the Azgeda army encroaching on your lands to the north. Don’t look surprised Luna, of course I’ve kept tabs on the Azgeda. They have been Trikru’s longest enemy, only protected from invasion by the Maunon.” Heda explained. “Opening our borders to each other will give our people an opportunity to interact and remove the mystique and fear our peoples have for each other. The Trikru will prove themselves worthy allies and protectors, more than just brutal warriors, but a loving, loyal people you know they are as well.  


“Opening trade will carry advantages all of us will benefit from. Resources will become surplus, lumber for your boats and fish for my people. Pelts and furs, weapons, nuts and roots, in exchange for your supplies and resources, my people will corral the Azgeda back within their own borders.  


“You must admit, Luna,” Heda held her stare with unflinching steadiness. “Your people may be pacifists, but they still need protection. You cannot be isolated and dependent upon trade to survive.”  


Luna sat back. “A coalition, between the two clans?”  


“My intention is to add more clans as my coalition grows. An agreed upon alliance, held together by treaty and mutual benefit rather than warfare and bloodshed.” Heda explained, leaning forward in her seat. “But I must start somewhere. When I heard you had taken control of the Floudonkru, I saw my opportunity. Luna, this can be the start of a new era of peace, but only if you join me.”  


Luna tilted her head, an attempt at reading the woman she had grown up with, but she had grown unreadable in the last two years. “You know how to make an argument, I must say. However, how am I supposed to participate in a coalition when setting foot in Polis is a dangerous risk I take with my life at the stakes?”  


Heda nodded. “Understandable concern, you will send a representative of your clan, an ambassador you trust implicitly and send them between Polis and the Floudonkru. They will act in your stead doing what is best for your people, they will negotiate, propose new treaties, and voice the concerns of their clansmen.”  


“And in order to enter upon this coalition?”  


Heda sat back. “You will submit to me. Bow to me and vow your loyalty to my coalition. In return you will have my own loyalty and the loyalty of the coalition. If war is declared upon your people, I, and the coalition, will come to your aid. I will be the deciding voice if disagreements cannot be mediated among the clans of the coalition. I will be the ultimate voice, and I make the ultimate decision.”  


“And if the clans don’t appreciate your voice and decision?”  


“I can always be challenged.”  


“A fight to the death? That’s how you plan to enforce your peaceful coalition?”  


“Of course that’s not the only way I can be impeached from my position.” Heda snapped, eyes sparking with hidden fury at Luna’s wry amusement. “If a unanimous decision of all the ambassadors finds me unfit to lead the coalition, I will be impeached and lose my position as ruler of the coalition. I will fall to simply Heda of the Trikru, rather than the Commander of the Coalition, and the ambassadors may vote for a new commander.”  


Luna tipped her head in acknowledgment. “Your plan is well thought out, though I wonder how you will convince the other clans to submit.”  


“That is a discussion for another day should you decide to join my coalition and accept the brand.” Heda shrugged.  


“I will not be privy to war.” Luna levelled a dangerous glare towards Heda.  


“And so you won’t be.” Heda was curt, she needed to be aloof. “Sometimes, a threat is all that is necessary.”  


Luna nodded. “Very well, I’ll think on it tonight and make my decision tomorrow.”  


Heda dipped her head. “I wish you goodnight, Luna.” She stood from her chair, leading Luna to the door. “It really is a pleasure to see you again, be sure to visit Costia, when you get the chance. She would appreciate seeing you again.”  


Luna smiled a real smile for perhaps the first time since arriving in Polis. “I’m glad you still have her.”  


“I am too.”  


They parted ways outside the hallway, Luna led to her rooms by a servant in the tower and Heda moving towards her own bed chambers. She had more work to do, of course, though her duties as Heda had mostly concluded for the day, she needed to prepare for her meeting with Luna. She knew that Luna would accept her proposal even before she had summoned her, but now she needed to prepare the terms of their agreement, begin outlining not just the alliance between the Trikru and Floudonkru, but to outline the entire structure of the coalition.  


Immediately upon entering her chambers, she stripped her armor and sash, leaving her in just her flimsy shirt, tied to her neck and her waist and leaving an open back, and her pants. She kicked off her boots near her wardrobe and padded to the couch and table, grabbing a couple of books from her shelf on her way.  


By the time Costia entered the room at twilight, Heda Kom Trikru was engrossed in her books, several spread out around her opened to various pages and an assortment of loose papers surrounding her on the table before her, a pencil held in her hand, the unsharpened edge resting on her pursed lips.  


“Lexa?” Costia brightened upon seeing the girl hard at work, though a frown quickly began to tug at her lips when the young Heda didn’t look up.  


But Costia was undeterred. She settled herself, stripping unnecessary clothing and kicking off her own boots, putting aside her healing equipment. Finally, fully comfortable and ready to end her day, she approached the Heda from behind and wrapped her arms around her neck. She placed a sweet kiss to her cheek and removed herself, walking around to sit beside Heda on the couch. “Lex? What have you got here? You rarely work in your bed chambers, hodnes?”  


Heda did not answer, she was too focused on her writings. Costia leaned over, peeking at the papers before her lover. “Writing in Gonasleng? Must be very important.”  


Costia watched, a small smile on her face for quite a while, before finally Heda placed her pencil down on the papers and leaned back into the couch with a sigh, rubbing her hands over her face in exasperation. “I guess it’s not going well?” Costia asked gently.  


Lexa startled, turning to the other girl. “When did you get home?”  


“An hour or so ago, hodnes, you were too focused to notice.” Costia giggled, leaning forward to place a kiss on Lexa’s lips. “I tried to see what it was, but it’s in Gonasleng.”  


Lexa grinned, leaning into another kiss. “Amazing things, love.”  


“Oh?”  


Lexa stood, stretching her back and pacing further into the room behind the couch. “Cos, I’m currently in negotiations with the Floudonkru to begin building a coalition of the clans.” Lexa turned to smile brightly down at the girl on the couch. “Free trade, movement between the clans, peace, Costia, it’s everything we’ve been dreaming of. I’m actually going to do it. And it starts today, tomorrow Luna and I negotiate the terms of our agreement, and the day after, should Luna accept, which I know she will, she takes the brand. This is the beginning of a new era.”  


Costia positively beamed. “Lexa, this is amazing.” She jumped up, rushing over to Lexa. “I’m so proud of you.” She threw her arms around Lexa’s neck and kissed her, though it was sloppy due to their smiles. “Ai hod yu in.”  


Lexa’s grin widened impossibly further. “I love you too.”

Luna accepted the deal, and though negotiations were painful, and there were some adamant disagreements, they reached a deal. When Luna accepted the brand and Lexa faced her people, Luna stood at her side.  


A new era of peace and prosperity would begin with two young women, in power in their respective clans for less than three years combined. But Lexa was sure she could do this, her people needed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a whole lot of soulmate-y type stuff here, but it's chock full of my headcanons surrounding Lexa's past and just why the fuck Titus did what he did in 307. Next chapter is going to have more soulmate stuff, but for now this is what I have. Like I said last chapter, this is my "random crap throw it in see what happens" story so it's mostly headcanons and funsies. I don't know if Azgeda borders with Floudonkru territory, but for this story, bear with me.  
> Check out my tumblr at NoLifeLoserWriting, and thank you for reading!  
> Oh! I forgot to mention the word _Keryontai _, This is a word I made up myself, because I couldn't find the word for soulmate anywhere in Trigedasleng. It roughly translates to soul-bound, which makes sense yeah? These people are tied to each other through their spirits, allowing them to share each other's pain. Anyway, that's about it, if there are any questions regarding the Trig here I'd be happy to answer.__


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearly twilight by the time Lexa finally trudged into her bed chambers, and by then Costia had woken and readied herself for the day. Lexa stripped herself of her armor and soiled clothes and padded out to find Costia leaning on the railing of the balcony overlooking Polis.  
Quietly, gently, she wrapped her arms around her lover’s waist, hugging her tightly, and resting her forehead on Costia’s shoulder. “I was wondering when you’d get home.”  


Lexa grunted, pressing a kiss to her shoulder blade. “The Azgeda levied a threat on Polis and it’s my responsibility to ensure that Polis remains safe.”  


“I know, hodnes.” Costia murmured, resting her hands atop Lexa’s own. “You work yourself too hard.”  


“I’m worried. Azgeda is strong and secretive. They live where no one else could, their warriors are brutal, and their Queen is impossible to locate. To invade at any time other than midsummer is suicide, but there’s no telling how many people Nia has at her disposal. My spies tell me she has an army of ten thousand, and ready to attack Polis. She’s been bullying the Floudonkru, strong-arming them and threatening them. She’s been pushing back borders among the Trikru and the Plains Clans as well. The Azgeda is a problem and the Kongeda is angry. I have to do something about them.” Lexa complained, groaning in frustration. “But marching on the capital is impossible. Mostly because I’m not sure there is a capital. Not enough is known about them, I can’t justify sending thousands of warriors to their deaths without certainty that we have a possibility of success.”  


Lexa’s head was pounding by the end of her tirade. Her shoulders were wound tight, knots of muscles aching between her shoulder blades. “Lexa, you need to rest. Sha, hodnes? Go to bed, Titus can handle your duties for a few hours. You’re no good to the Kongeda exhausted the way you are.” Costia sighed, finally moving from Lexa’s arms to turn around and push Lexa backwards.  


The sun had come up behind her, and the way the brightness contrasted with the darkness of her skin, and matched the color of her eyes perfectly, the air in Lexa’s lungs left her. At eighteen summers, Costia had blossomed into something truly remarkable. Lexa couldn’t believe her luck at finding someone like her. It was quiet moments like these that reminded Lexa never to loosen her grip on the other girl. If she turned away, for just a moment, Costia would slip away, and Lexa could think of no greater tragedy than for a girl like Costia to be overlooked or ignored for even a second.  


Costia smiled, their faces inches from each other, and Lexa found herself dizzy. A smile like that could bring entire kingdoms to their knees, and Lexa wasn’t weak, but she was certainly human. “You know, I can’t remember a time you weren’t working yourself to death.” Costia pressed a sweet kiss to Lexa’s nose. “How many summers has it been?”  


Lexa grinned in response. “Eight or so? Ten if you count when we first met.”  


“Right!” Costia laughed. “You punched my brother.”  


Lexa rolled her eyes. “I’ve yet to live it down.”  


Costia’s laugh was musical, and Lexa couldn’t imagine living a life never having heard such a laugh. Lexa couldn’t imagine a life without Costia in it, and she wouldn’t want to. Costia may not be her Keryontai, but she was certainly her heart.  


Eventually Costia pulled away, pushing Lexa backwards with a hand on her chest until she reached the edge of the bed and fell back with a grunt. Costia flicked her forehead where the Gear of the Commander usually sat and left the room. Leaving Lexa groaning on the bed, rubbing her forehead with a childish pout.  


She only managed to sleep, exactly as Costia left her, until midmorning, before Titus disturbed her rest with a petty matter, if you asked her, but which evidently had a lasting impact on the good of all humanity, according to him.  


In all, it took only an hour to settle the small dispute between the hunting group and the vendor in the market. The hunters needed to lower their prices, since during the spring deer were readily available, and the venison vendor should not have to trade half of his supply of arrowheads for a single doe. But since she had emerged from her bed chambers briefly that meant that she was available for any other matters that popped up throughout the day.  


Including, of course, the Kongeda dispute with the Azgeda. They had failed to reach an adequate conclusion the previous day, so of course the matter must be sorted immediately.  


A quick meeting with one of the spies she had sent north gave her the information that Queen Nia Kom Azgeda had been contacting any Kongeda generals with questionable loyalty. The ones who could be bought for information. And, in addition, one Trikru warrior under Anya’s command, one that had gone missing at summer’s close the previous year, had been found, half thawed, just underneath the frozen over surface of a lake on the border of Trikru and Azgeda territory. Of course, Nia claimed it had been an unfortunate accident, that she had no knowledge of the man or of the circumstances of his death.  


Lexa knew this was a lie, but she had no way of proving it, and thus had no reason to declare war on the Azgeda, not officially.  


That didn’t stop the eleven clans of the Kongeda for demanding retribution. Blood must have blood.  


Except, no blood has been shed, not officially. Sure, Floudonkru had lost many vessels and sailors to the Azgeda pirates and warriors demanding resources without due payment, but Nia claimed to punish any and all criminals among her ranks, officially, she honored the tenuous truce the Kongeda had with Azgeda, but only barely. Despite her claims, no one was fooled, Nia was behind the attacks as usual, and she was behind the death of Anya’s warrior. Without proof, Lexa’s hands were tied.  


Of course, in order to officially declare war, which she was more than capable of doing, she would need the approval of two thirds of the Kongeda ambassadors. In all, that was eight votes for war. Usually, this would not be a difficult feat, Lexa loved her people, desperately, but they were blood thirsty. They knew one thing, battle, but they knew it very well. But eight votes for warfare against this specific enemy was difficult. The Floudonkru never voted for war. Never, they were a vote down at all times, the Kongeda would never have a unanimous decision to declare war. The Broadleaf Clan lived very far from the Azgeda, though they frequently sailed north to trade along the rivers, they rarely interacted with the Azgeda, and therefore their leaders were hesitant to send forces north to attack a people that had never wronged them specifically. Their warriors were unaccustomed to cold climates, and so it was unlikely to get a vote from them.  


That left eight clans, nine, if she counted Trikru, though they followed her without question, so she frequently did not in matters such as these. The Plains Riders would certainly vote for war, and the Glowing Forest as well. But the further from the Azgeda the clans were located, the less likely she could convince them to give up aid to fight an enemy that hadn’t “willingly” provoked the Kongeda.  


It was a day of debating each and every one of these points with Titus, Gustus, even Anya, before debating the same points with the ambassadors as well. At the end of her second day of argument over the Azgeda, Lexa still had no course of action. She knew her ambassadors would begin to talk, they would mutter and groan about her weakness and fear of Queen Nia. There was nothing more dangerous to a leader than talking amongst her people. But as with the Azgeda, she could not prevent her ambassadors from having an opinion.  


She returned to her room just after sunset, to find an empty bed and Costia nowhere to be seen. Lexa heaved a sigh, there must have been a busy day at the healer’s tent. Instead she readied herself for a bath. She’d soak in warm water and relax, hopefully ease some of the tension from her shoulders and neck. As much as she loved Costia, and wanted to be around her, she appreciated the quiet and the solitude enough to doze contentedly in the bath.  


Once the water cooled, she rinsed and scrubbed the dirt and sweat from her body, reveling in the fresh feeling of cleanliness, and then dried herself. She didn’t care much to get dressed immediately, so she sat in one of the chairs by the table for some time, braiding her hair and watching the moon rise out of the window overlooking the balcony.  


By the time her hair was nearly dried, Costia still hadn’t appeared. Slightly disgruntled at the loneliness, Lexa dressed in a nightgown and curled up in the bed, being sure to take up the middle of the bed, just to spite her for being late. Yes, it was petty, no, it certainly wouldn’t bother Costia, she’d probably just shove Lexa right off the edge with a well-placed kick to her ribs, but Lexa wanted to be sure to passive aggressively remind Costia just which one of the two was allowed to work themselves to the brink of exhaustion.  


Polite? Not really. Unnecessary? Depends on who you ask. Immature? Absolutely.  


Lexa didn’t even manage to close her eyes before the very girl she was expecting burst into the room. “Lexa!”  


Lexa was upright in the blink of an eye, expecting to console Costia or fight off attackers, but instead she was face to face with her lover, beaming with happiness and pride. “You’ll never believe what happened today!”  


Lexa blinked. “What?” She asked dumbly, internally slapping herself upside the head the way Anya always did when she did something stupid.  


Costia lunged forward, placing a searing kiss on Lexa’s lips, leaving the poor girl dazed. “I met my Keryontai!”  


Lexa desperately wanted to be happy, especially after a kiss like that, but instead, fear raced through her veins. Immediately, she chided herself for being selfish. They both knew this day would come, even if they hadn’t talked about it. “That’s- That’s wonderful, Costia.” Lexa choked, struggling to smile.  


Costia didn’t seem to notice Lexa’s less than passionate response. “He’s wonderful, Lex. He’s got a great sense of humor and he’s almost as clumsy as you are. He’s a warrior. I met him today when I was working. He tried to flirt with me at first, but when I told him about you he backed off immediately. He was very respectful.” Costia’s eyes gleamed. “Lex, it’s so exciting! We spent most of the day together, tomorrow I want you to meet him, of course, if you’re not too busy.”  


Lexa managed a half smile. “Of course, I’ll send Titus off to do something menial so that I can slip away, if you like.” Lexa was rewarded with another kiss, her knees nearly buckling.  


Costia’s smile was dazzling, as always, but there was something more to it this time, like she’d been missing something, though she didn’t know what, until now. “He’s very friendly. I think you’ll like him. He reminds me of you.”  


Lexa winked. “Well, it makes sense that your Keryontai would be like me.”  


“Oh shof op, Lexa.” Costia laughed, shoving Lexa back onto the bed and curling up next to her, hand resting on her stomach, tracing invisible patterns. “His name is Toronto. He only got to the city a few days ago. I think he’ll be the best friend I’ve ever had in my life.”  


Lexa let out a long sigh. “Only friend?”  


Costia looked up, hazel eyes glowing in the dim light. “Of course. You’re my love.”  


Lexa took a shaky breath. “I-“ She took another breath, staring up at the ceiling to avoid letting Costia see the tears welling in her eyes. “I was scared you would leave.”  


Costia caressed the side of her face, placing a soft kiss to her cheekbone and resting her forehead there on the side of Lexa’s face. “I’m not leaving, not ever.”  


A tear squeezed itself out and down Lexa’s cheek. “I don’t want to hold you back.”  


“Please,” Costia smiled. “I have the Commander of the Eleven Allied Clans in my bed, in my arms, only a fool would give that up.”  


Lexa turned, wrapping herself in Costia, burying her face in her hair and heaving another sigh. “Ai hod yu in.”  


Costia kissed her throat in response.

 

It wasn’t abnormal for Costia to be gone from the tower for days at a time. Frequently she needed to stay with a patient overnight, and sometimes pay house visits to contagious individuals kept in solitude to prevent further spread of any viruses or disease. Often, she stayed with her parents, since they were getting older and becoming frail. It was seen as proper that she spent more time with her parents, she was still unmarried after all, though Lexa had been intending to change that very soon, and the last thing either of them needed was for rumors to spread about Lexa’s promiscuity. But with the addition of Costia’s Keryontai, Lexa was certainly not surprised that Costia had been gone for seven straight days.  


Though she had been busy herself, Prince Roan Kom Azgeda had come to Polis to negotiate a treaty and attempt to quell the anger directed at his people from the members of Kongeda, then left after they failed to come to a reasonable agreement. She found her position much more strenuous than it had been before, with the complication of brewing war, she only slept for a couple of hours at a time, and at odd hours of the day, it didn’t bother her that she hadn’t seen Costia for a while.  


Until the ninth day came and left with no sign of the young healer.  


By then she was concerned that Costia was working herself harder than Lexa was. She designated duties to Anya and Gustus for an hour, just an hour, and slipped into an unassuming cape and hood, covering her tattoos and face, until she reached the healer’s tent that Costia spent most of her time in. One of the healers, an older man named Lydik, was quite friendly and had been Costia’s Fos. He helped birth most of the children in Polis and he treated each one as the child he never had, Costia and Lexa were no different. They had been in and out of his tent, playing with and teasing him for most of their childhood. If there was anyone that would know where she was and tell Lexa, rather than Heda, it would be Lydik.  


Lexa slipped from the entrance room, where a few sekens of varying ages lounged about, to the back room where actual healing was done. Several healers milled about the few beds lined up, filled with patients with maladies varying from sword wounds to colds. She found the oldest man in the room, hunchbacked and covered in moles and cysts. His hands were wrinkled and only a little shaky as he helped a young girl get up on a bed despite the coughing fit wracking her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath. He wore a friendly smile, and a cataract was beginning to form on one of his twinkling brown eyes, his clothes sagged and covered his thinning form. Lydik had been in better health the last time Lexa had seen him, but Costia had mentioned his aging had been worrying her.  


“Lydik,” Lexa hissed, as soon as the girl was settled in bed. Lydik turned, taking in her disguised appearance, but recognizing her face.  


“Ah, Heda,” He revealed rotting teeth, where there weren’t gaps in his smile. “It’s been years.”  


Lexa pulled him by his elbow to the corner of the room. “I was wondering where Costia was, if you’d seen her or knew where she’d went. I haven’t seen her in a few days.”  


Lydik chuckled. “Of course you were, the two of you were always inseparable. No, I haven’t seen her since she and her Keryontai went to visit a patient at the edge of the city limits. It was an easy task, supposedly, but she hasn’t come back since.”  


“When was that?”  


Lydik sighed, his eyes going to the ceiling and his mouth moving as he counted in his head. “About nine days ago, Heda.”  


Lexa straightened her spine. “That was the last time I saw her as well. Where’s her Keryontai?”  


“He was a warrior named Toronto, wasn’t he?” Lydik asked himself. “I suppose he and his troupe have moved out by now. They were only stationed for a few days, came in for a minor injury, told me he would be leaving soon, and then I gave Costia the job, my stamina just isn’t where it used to be.”  


Lexa tilted her head. “Under what general?”  


“He didn’t say.”  


“None of my warriors have entered city limits and left city limits within the last few weeks.” Lexa spoke mostly to herself. “Only those of Prince Roan’s guard have entered the city and left within the time frame of Costia’s Keryontai.”  


“You suppose he was Azgeda? We don’t get many of those in these parts.” Lydik hummed to himself. “Well, I have a girl with whooping cough that I need to attend to, if you don’t mind Heda.”  


“Of course, Lydik, thank you, my old friend.”  


Lydik smiled at her, reaching forward to kiss her covered forehead before he hobbled away to the little girl awaiting him.  


Lexa’s world had just gotten much more complex.  


Lexa swept from the healer’s tent quicker than she had entered, winding her way through the crowded market, towards her tower. Though her mind was occupied with fears of Costia and the Azgeda, she at least had the time to admire how much busier and livelier Polis had grown with the addition of citizens from the other ten clans involved in the Kongeda. The Trikru danced and sang with members of all of the other clans around them, Polis was the center of culture and peace.  


But Lexa needed to get back to her tower so that she could ask Anya to put out a small, unofficial search party for Costia. She would only spare two or three scouts to follow whatever leads she had and return with information. They would search for both Costia and her Keryontai. Lexa knew when it came to soulbound couples one could always find one of the couple if they could find the other.  


Lexa just hoped that Costia had simply lost track of time. Costia had never been gone for this long without at least word from a messenger.

 

Anya herself decided to follow up on Costia’s lead, visiting her parents and the patient she was supposed to visit nine days prior. Anya had become attached to Costia over the years, though she knew it was a bad idea. The kid was too sweet, and Lexa was a warrior, likely to die very young. Costia was doomed to heartbreak if she continued on with Lexa. But she made Lexa happy, provided a stress relieving distraction that kept her thoughts away from her nearly guaranteed early death and onto what made that short life worth living. Anya loved that girl. Though she made teaching Lexa frustrating at times, especially as Lexa grew older and more interested in her lover, the girl was talented and kept Lexa in line.  


So finding out that she had never made it to her patient’s home at the edge of the city limits made Anya’s heart sink. Lexa would be panic-stricken at the information. So, instead of reporting back, she continued on, joining her scouts in tracking down the boy Toronto.  


Toronto, as it turned out, was indeed a member of the Azgeda guard that traveled with the Azgeda prince. Roan had left for the Azgeda two days after Costia had gone missing, and Anya and her scouts rode hard in an attempt to catch up with him, but they found he had already reached the border by the eleventh day.  


“We should continue on.” Aron, one of Anya’s scouts, huffed as they came to a stop along the edge of the lake the Trikru and Azgeda used as a border marker.  


“No, Azgeda and the Kongeda are on the verge of war. If we trespass, it’ll be considered an act of war. Especially if we find that Roan has no knowledge of Costia, or her Keryontai.” Anya snapped, whipping the reins of her horse to the side and starting a trot back towards Polis. “For now, the Azgeda cannot be blamed for Costia. Wherever the girl is, let’s hope she’s within Kongeda borders, or we cannot retrieve her without declaring war.”  


The younger woman, Anya’s second scout named Hera, piped up. “But why can’t Heda just put out a full search party? Why just the three of us?”  


Anya looked to the girl, she was about fourteen summers, fresh from her apprenticeship. “Heda cannot spare an entire army to search for one girl. Even if that girl is close to her heart.”  


Aron straightened his back. “Heda is wiser than I would be. If it were my houmon I’d be desperate. I’d do anything.”  


Anya shook her head solemnly. “She was my seken, when she was a girl, and even then, she was wise. But I suppose not wise enough to keep herself detached.”  


Hera clicked her tongue. “It’s unwise to ignore your own health for the sake of leadership. I understand that her lover would be a target, of course, but without a friend, I’d fall apart. People in isolation eventually drive themselves crazy, you know. In my home village, a man kept to himself so often, out of fear, that he finally drowned himself. He wouldn’t talk to anyone, trade for anything, hunt, he wasted away in that hut of his, when he wasn’t wandering about the woods twitching and yelling at children.”  


Anya sighed. “I worry for her, the girl, Costia, she was good. Innocent.”  


“That’s always the way, isn’t it?” Aron hummed. “All of this war and bloodshed, it doesn’t end with the warriors. It always tortures our loved ones most. Heda is visionary, by changing our ways of violence. I fear the Azgeda will force her hand, and I’ll die in this final war. My Keryontai, he’ll feel every second of it.”  


The rest of the trip was silent.

 

Lexa counted each day without Costia. By the time she reached the end of the thirtieth day, Lexa pitied her Keryontai. She paced until her feet and hips ached, her jaw screamed with how long and how tightly she clenched her teeth together, her palms had scars and open cuts from where her fingernails dug into them as she struggled not to think of all of the things her Costia could be going through. And her Keryontai could feel every single ache. Even, she supposed, her heartache.  


It was late before she finally collapsed into her bed to sleep. She rarely slept these days, her dreams were littered with images of Costia’s mangled body, of the sound of her screams. Her nightmares were splattered with her blood, and the faceless Toronto shouting at her that it was all her fault. That she had signed Costia’s death warrant when she had the audacity, the daring, to love something as fallible as another person.  


Lexa ruined the innocent. She killed them, whether with her own sword, or her orders, she had murdered thousands. She put so many through the agony of losing a loved one, or a Keryontai.  


Yes, it certainly was her fault Costia was gone.  


The sun had just barely peeked above the horizon when her bedchambers erupted into chaos. Three guards, a bleary eyed, but no less livid Titus, already red-faced, and a man Lexa had never seen before, his face webbed with fresh puckering scars, rushed in. Some of his scars weren’t quite healed over yet, still scabbed over and threatening to burst open and bleed anew where the carvings were too deep to heal quite so quickly. The man was Azgeda, obvious to anyone who knew of the barbaric system of Tribal markings the Azgeda used. Most clans gave their members tattoos when they came of age, sometimes on the face, like the Trikru, and sometimes not, but the Azgeda used scars instead. It was frightening, frankly, tattoos hurt, but to willingly carve into one’s face in order to scar over, it was terrifying. They braved blood loss and infection to show loyalty to their queen. Markings that would stretch and mar them just as their innocence was marred by their servitude to the Azgeda Queen.  


The three guards struggled to apprehend the Azgeda man, but even with the man hampered by a burlap bag in one hand, they couldn’t keep him out. He had curly brown hair that fell to his shoulders and angry ice blue eyes. “I have a gift for the Commander.” He snarled. He was built like one of the Plains Clans’ prized stallions, but he moved like a wolf that had caught the scent of his prey. “My name is Toronto. Kill me if you want, I serve the Azplana and I die honorably in her name.”  


Lexa blanched, in the whirlwind of action that had filled her room in just the last few seconds, she had managed to free herself from the furs on her bed and advance towards the group. “Azgeda intruder!” Titus screamed. “This is an act of war! Kill him!’  


The three guards moved to do as he ordered. “Em pleni!” Lexa snapped. Immediately the guards and Titus straightened up, seeming to remember her presence. “What is going on? You are Toronto? Explain yourself.”  


The Azgeda man smiled a wolfish, cruel smile. “I believe you know exactly who I am, Heda.”  


Lexa raised her chin. “What is your business here?” Where is Costia? She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of asking that question.  


“I deliver a gift, a hard won gift, from Queen Nia Kom Azgeda.” His smile grew, and Lexa had the distinct feeling that she was the rabbit, already in the maw of the wolf.  


Toronto dropped the burlap back with a sickening thump, and a head rolled out. Lexa, at first couldn’t tell whose head, she had seen a lot of decapitation in her time as Heda, but she did recognize that curly hair, and one of those golden hazel eyes.  


Lexa couldn’t comprehend what she was staring at, but she had enough wherewithal to scream to her guards. “Take him to the dungeons! I want him alive.”  


Toronto had stopped struggling, he had done his job, and now he faced capture. “You won’t get any information from me.” He growled as the guards finally apprehended him. “You can’t.”  


“Shut up.” One of the guards hissed. She didn’t bother to hide her rough knee to his groin, immediately dropping him like the bag he had just thrown at Lexa’s feet.  


Once it was just Titus and Lexa, and the angry voices had faded down the hall and towards the elevator, Lexa allowed the trembling to begin. Her hands shook and her breathing came in rapid pants as she went crashing to the floor, her knees taking the brunt of her fall. No tears came as she turned the head over to reveal the rest of Costia’s face, covered in fresh and faded cuts and burns, bruises marred her beautiful skin, and one of those bright eyes, made of liquid gold had been completely gouged out by a hot poker, leaving a disgusting bloody hole in her face, some parts completely cooked by the iron.  


Her lips were dry and cracked and bloody, though her bottom lip had a pencil sized hole ripped cleanly through to the teeth. A chunk of her cheek was cut off in the shape of a heart, revealing spoiling and infected meat still clinging to the bone of her jaw.  


Even in death, Costia would be left with no honor or dignity.  


How? How could she let this happen? She was Heda Kom Trikru, Commander of the Coalition of Allied Clans, she should have been able to protect one innocent girl. She was a healer, she did nothing, in fact, she had helped this man, just a month ago. How could Lexa allow this to happen in her own city? She couldn’t even protect the one girl she loved in this entire world from a bloodthirsty, power-hungry, rat of a woman. And the fact that Costia was targeted at all, was because of her. Just by being close to Costia, Lexa had ruined the only beautiful thing in her world. Lexa was to be blamed, for the targeting, capturing, and torturing of Kostia.  


Lexa let out a dry, strangled sob. She couldn’t make tears fall from her face, she couldn’t close her eyes, instead, she stared and trembled and begged for it to be an elaborate, cruel ploy to disarm her. How could anyone be so cruel as to lure innocence and happiness embodied away to die a painful, grueling, lonely death? Far away from any single person that loved her.  


“To be Heda is to be alone, Leksa.” Titus murmured from across the room. The only witness to her weakness. He could see the way she fell apart over what? A girl. No, the girl.  


Lexa wanted to scream, wanted to rage, wanted to strike him dead where he stood. She wanted to claw at the back of her neck, rip the spirit of the commander, the voices of advice and wisdom, right from her body. She wanted to fling the blasted thing off the balcony and shriek for all the world to hear that she was no longer the Commander, that she no longer served anyone but herself, until her throat scratched raw and spilled blood from her mouth, staining her teeth. She wanted to cut her traitorous heart from her chest and stop its beating, because then perhaps she would feel okay again. Perhaps, after all of that, Heda would be done, Lexa could disappear, and join her lover among the stars, free and bright and weightless. She could shirk her duties, allow someone else to lift the Promethean weight from her back, and she would be okay.  


“Love is weakness.” Titus murmured once more, ignoring Lexa’s pitiful whimper before he left her bed chambers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay, had a family gathering thing and no internet! Haha yayyyy -.- Anyway, enjoy this monstrosity of a chapter, I'm sorry, and more will come probably tomorrow. Between puppy proofing and student loans, the next chapter will be up real fast thanks to good ole procrastination. Thanks for reading my headcanon crap, I daydream way too much about political negotiations and just how Lexa managed to take over the known world.


	4. Chapter 4

Anya rushed through the halls of the tower, the moment they had gotten word, Gustus immediately agreed to aid Titus in orchestrating the running of Polis in Lexa’s stead and Anya ignored all of her prior duties to run to her old seken’s side. Lexa needed someone to be there for her, to protect her and lead her, and that was Anya’s job. It always had been.  


Nothing could have prepared her for what she found upon entering Heda’s bed chambers.  


The head, it was gruesome, Anya would admit. But the way Lexa sat next to it, back leaned against the footboard of her bed, staring listlessly at it, that’s what scared Anya the most. She’d been ready to console tears, raging, even hysteria, but Lexa wasn’t there.  


“Lexa?”  


No response.  


“Goufa?”  


Nothing.  


“Strisis?” Anya approached slowly, crouching in front of Lexa, just to the side of Costia’s head. “Beja, answer me.”  


Finally, Lexa’s head turned, only barely, her eyes focusing in and out on her once mentor. Anya hadn’t called Lexa her little sister since before the Ascension, but that didn’t mean her affection for the girl had lessened any at all. Anya had raised this kid since she was able to hold a sword –barely- and watched Lexa grow from a bright eyed little girl to a calm, wise, brilliant young leader. It was the trembling of the bottom lip that signaled to Anya the depths of her agony.  


A tear tracked down Lexa’s face as she seemed to crumble. “I-“ She choked.  


“Hush,” Anya murmured. “There’s nothing to explain.”  


Lexa shook her head. “My Keryontai.”  


Anya tilted her head. “Chit?”  


“They’re squeezing their hand. Like they mean to hold my hand or something. It feels like someone is holding my hand.” Lexa whimpered, withdrawing even further. “I can’t- They’re trying to comfort me.”  


Anya swallowed the lump in her throat, now was not the time for her own emotions. “L-“  


“They’re left handed.” Lexa blurted. “It doesn’t mean anything, but they’re left handed. They’re squeezing their right hand with their left. They’re left handed.”  


“Lexa,” Anya interrupted her rambling. “Gustus and I have bought you a day to mourn.” It was time to cut the chase. “I’ll have one of the guards build a funeral pyre. We can burn her with her murderer, that ripa Toronto.”  


Lexa shook her head again. “No, I want him alive. He’s important alive.”  


“Why?”  


“He’s a messenger.” Lexa raised her eyebrows, as if Anya should know what that meant. “Clan doctrine indicates that the execution of a messenger is grounds for war. But if he is alive, he is a prisoner and an intruder, sent to intimidate my people. His life means the Kongeda forgoes the vote. War has been declared. It is our move now, she expects me to be fearful.” Lexa growled. “She wants me scared and vulnerable.”  


Anya schooled her features immediately. Anya could see the vulnerability, the emotion and pain in Lexa, despite her attempts to hide it, but showing Lexa that she saw her vulnerability would ruin the girl. Her mask was all she had now. “What do we do then? Heda?” She added after a second’s hesitation.  


“Our move must be that of strength.” Lexa huffed, avoiding looking at the head as she shakily stood to her feet, smaller than Anya had ever seen her, even when she was only five summers old and fumbling through her stances.  


“And her funeral?”  


Lexa bowed her head. “Build the funeral pyre in front of the healer’s hut. Inform her family and the healers, including Lydik. Allow word to spread. She was beloved among Polis. Allow the anger and the tragedy to dredge up emotion among our people.” Lexa took a shaky breath. “It will spread the word that Azgeda attacked a citizen inside the walls of Polis, there will be no question of borders or Nia’s knowledge. Toronto was a member of the Prince’s guard. With the armies of the Kongeda we will wreak revenge on the Azgeda.”  


Anya nodded, she could plan a war. She was a famed general among the Trikru. But comfort a girl after the loss of her lover? Anya didn’t know what to do. So she followed orders.  


It took until nightfall to finish preparing for the funeral, and Anya was entirely shocked at the number of people attending. Many weren’t even Trikru. The girl had done so much good within the community, though, Anya supposed she should have expected such respect and mourning.  


Standing by the unlit pyre, Anya found Costia’s closest friends, and her parents. Her brother was away on assignment, and he wouldn’t hear of his sister’s torture and death until much later. She approached Costia’s parents, silently gripping their arms in solidarity. “Her death will not be in vain.” Anya vowed. “The Commander will be sure of that.”  


“She knows that it wasn’t her fault?” Costia’s mother begged. “Lexa is the type to take responsibility for this.”  


Anya fought back the urge to collapse to her knees and beg for the woman to visit Lexa, but that would be unfitting of a general. “She is, and I’m not sure she does know that.” Anya admitted. “But with time, she’ll learn.”  


The woman fought a sob. “Lexa is our daughter too. She must know that.”  


Anya squeezed her shoulder. “And she will. For now, we mourn.”  


Anya turned as the crowd parted rapidly, Lexa was arriving. She wore her coat and sash, the gear of the Commander and her war paint, unconventional for the funeral of a lover. Though, Anya supposed, everyone in Polis knew of Lexa’s relationship with Costia anyway. Lexa certainly didn’t need to wear a disguise. Perhaps it was more for Lexa than for the people.  


Lexa stopped at a respectful distance from the pyre, as if she were just a distant spectator rather than Costia’s lover. “Today, we mourn the loss of one of Polis’ finest healers.” She spoke so that everyone could hear, but her tone was carefully controlled. “Costia was captured by Azgeda invaders, tortured by Azgeda warriors, and sent to me as a threat from Queen Nia Kom Azgeda. Let no one forget the person we mourn, her light, innocence, and talent. But let no one forget why we mourn her. She was taken from us. An act of war. An innocent was killed without the declaration of war, instead of targeting our strength, Nia, the coward, targeted our youth, our beauty. This will not stand. Her death was meaningless. But her life will not be. Costia valued peace and prosperity. She healed anyone who asked her for help, no matter their clan, no matter their bloodline.” Lexa’s eyes burned in the light of the torches surrounding the large crowd. “We will honor her love, her desire, for peace. But peace comes at a price, and it will be paid with the blood of the Azgedakru that did this to her. And once that debt is paid, peace will reign.” Lexa stopped to allow her words to echo in the silence. “Jus drein jus daun.”  


Chanting began, a call for war among every mourner, every spectator, every man, woman, and child in the crowd. Blood must have blood, and blood they shall have. Anya watched silently as the crowd grew to a fevered pitch before Lexa raised a single hand. Silence fell almost immediately, but the atmosphere was that of anger and energy. Costia’s death would be avenged.  


“Now, we mourn.” Lexa spoke softly, nodding to Costia’s parents.  


With shaking hands, they reached for the torch handed to them, and set it atop the pyre. In an instant, flames roared up, the crackling of burning wood the only sound to be heard among the crowd. Lexa watched for a few respectful moments. Anya was shocked Lexa herself hadn’t lit the pyre, but instead, Lexa turned to leave shortly afterwards, not bothering to wait for the fire to die down.  


Anya hurried after her. Lexa shouldn’t be alone right now. “Heda,” She greeted, reaching her side.  


Lexa didn’t answer at first as they reached the empty market square, glowing golden from the fire burning a street away. “I was going to ask her to marry me.” Lexa stated, nearly coldly, as if she were detached from herself. “I planned on carving a necklace for her. Or give her a small dagger, something like that. I wasn’t sure.”  


Anya’s heart broke. Lexa had been so close to happiness. So close, and it was taken from her.  


“Nia will die.” Lexa hissed. “Tomorrow, I will meet with the ambassadors in my war room. Nia expects vulnerability, she expects me to be hindered by emotion. We will show her force. I will not defeat her in battle. She will surrender to me by her own volition.” Lexa raised her chin. “It will be the most humiliating day of her life.” 

Lexa squared her shoulders, standing taller. “Then it will be her last.”

 

“Titus, I have had enough of you.” Heda snapped, baring her teeth. “Toronto will not be harmed. Do you understand me?” She raised her voice, startling the bald man for the first time in his life. “His life is valuable. I will question him myself.”  


“Heda, there is no point, he is a natrona! He killed his own Keryontai, that’s a grave crime, we can’t let him get away with betraying the girl!”  


Titus had no time to react before Heda had rounded on him and set her dagger to his throat. “You will silence yourself Titus, or I will cut your tongue from your mouth. If you really have no faith in me to uphold our laws and guard my citizens, all of them, then you may find yourself at the end of a rope hanging from the edge of my balcony. Fleimkappa or not. Today, I will discuss war with my ambassadors and if you continue speaking I will have you thrown in the dungeons alongside the ripa.”  


Titus didn’t believe Heda would do anything that she threatened, and Heda herself wasn’t so sure, but it certainly felt good to put a knife to the man’s throat.  


Heda swept into the war room, Titus following silently at her heels, and with a glare, he was forced to remain silent in the back of the room like a punished child. The chaos and shouting that usually followed her entrance to a meeting with the ambassadors was oddly lacking. It was clear to everyone that she was not to be prodded today. Anya sat in the seat just to the right of Heda’s own, and the ambassadors sat, crowding the long table covered in maps and numbers and notes. Each ambassador had a couple of aides and advisors to help them negotiate and plan what is best for each clan. Also included in the war room was Gustus, and a few of the older Natblidas.  


The Natblidas wouldn’t speak, their role was to observe and watch as Heda conducted the meeting. They would need to learn about conducting war in the case of her death, and this was a prime opportunity to watch it happen.  


There was no need to call for silence in the giant room, everyone waited for her to speak. “The Azgeda invaded Polis yesterday, Toronto Kom Azgeda delivered to me the head of a citizen of Polis. The Azgeda had kidnapped this civilian, tortured her, and then used her as a pitiful attempt to intimidate the Kongeda. This is tantamount to a declaration of war, and therefore must be met with the solemn and serious focus of warfare.” Heda’s voice was made of iron, there was no questioning her today. “Today we will discuss this war and our plan of action. I expect complete obedience. My orders are final, disobeying my orders will be considered and punished as treason. My suggestion, is to follow these orders to the letter.” Heda warned.  


“To begin, I call upon the armies of the Eleven Allied Clans, every available warrior is to be at my disposal. Trade with the Azgeda, of all kinds, is to be halted. They will be cut off from every resource not available to them in their immediate area.”  


“Heda,” An ambassador from the Plains Clans interrupted. “Are we to invade Azgeda territory?”  


Heda walked to her seat, remaining standing, and levelled a serious, studious, gaze at the woman. Sensing no disdain in her tone, Heda answered her question. “Not yet. I will wait to gather our numbers. The Azgedakru are formidable because of their unknown numbers and their difficult-to-traverse territory. Until we are ready to move in, we will choke them until the Azgeda people are ready to flee their home to avoid starvation.”  


“My people will not participate in an invasion, Heda. Luna will not stand for this.” The Floudonkru ambassador spoke.  


“And what warriors -pray tell- do you have available to send?” Heda snapped sarcastically. “I do not ask the Floudonkru for warriors, as I never have in the past. I am quite familiar with the Floudonkru law. Should the Azgeda attack the Floudonkru right this moment, there would be no stopping Nia’s complete conquer of your clan, so if you desire protection from the battles that will follow come our official declaration of war, I suggest you shof op.”  


The Floudonkru ambassador paled and snapped his mouth shut with a clack of his teeth.  


“Now, the Floudonkru will levy a blockade upon the Azgeda vessels, preventing passage into territory that does not belong to Azgeda. Warriors from the Delphi and Lake Clans will accompany the Floudonkru on their vessels for martial protection. Any Azgeda vessel to attempt to cross the blockade is to be sunk.” Heda growled. “All trade along the river routes and over land are to also be halted and blockaded. No Azon is to cross the blockades, their supplies confiscated.” Heda leaned over the table to pull a large map with known territory and borders hand drawn on yellowing paper. She took the paper weights Anya handed her. “This is where the blockades will be set up. They will be five miles inside Kongeda border. Away from the Azgeda guards that will attack upon seeing warriors enter neutral territory, but close enough to insure there will be no trade between the Allied Clans and the Azgeda. We will seal the Azgeda within their own territory by force.” She set the paper weights down in the locations she indicated.  


Heda paused. “Anya, have the Trikru increase security around the villages nearest the northern border. Extra warriors only necessary for villages within forty miles of the border. Plains Clan, do the same for the northeastern border of the Riders’ territories.” Heda ordered. “Nia will attempt to counter with attacks to the bordering villages. I want every warrior from all eleven clans guarding some part of the border within the month. After that we begin the next stage of our attack.”  


“And what is the next stage?” Anya asked quietly.  


Heda set her jaw. “I have chosen three villages. They’ll be razed to the ground. No building standing, not even a latrine. No civilians to be harmed, but any and all warriors or villagers that attempt to attack or defend will die. I will take no prisoners.” Heda’s eyes glittered with conflicting emotion. “If Nia chooses to be savage, then we will respond in kind. She will not see me weak, ever, nothing she can do and can break me.” Heda raised her chin. “She will surrender, or watch her entire clan burn to ash.”  


As she left from the war meeting towards the end of the day, Lexa felt pressure on her right hand again, a sign from her Keryontai. _“I’m here.” ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yikes, I lied about when I'd update, sorry friends. Preparing for a new dog is a lot of work. But he comes home in two days! Eek! As for Out of the Sky, I meant to also update that today, but I got distracted by my favorite UFC fighter winning her twelfth straight bout and remaining champion (woo!). So Likely sometime in the next couple of days OotS will be updated and who knows maybe I'll have another chapter of this little number up.  
> Feel free to ask any questions regarding any of the Trig or well, anything else.


	5. Chapter 5

Clarke didn’t go to school for three days. The first day, she had spent tossing and turning in her bed, groaning and struggling to get comfortable, struggling just to breathe. Her father spent the afternoon sitting with her, they watched nature documentaries from a century ago on his work tablet. The second day, Wells skipped school to sneak in and spend the day curled up with her and making dumb jokes to cheer her up. In between grimaces, there were snippets of light laughter. But when Abby found them, she sent Wells home with a warning glare and a clicking tongue that warned him that his father would definitely hear about this. That night, alone, she squeezed her right hand, the same way she did the previous night, and hoped that her soulmate would understand. Whatever was happening, they needed comfort. If she could give even an ounce of that, she would do anything she could. But with the way her chest continued to ache, she feared that perhaps it was doing the opposite.  


The third day, the pain had lessened enough that she could move, and she spent the day doing make-up school work so that she could catch up with her missed classes. Every few minutes though, a twinge of pain rocketed through her chest and doubled her over with a desperate need for air.  


She could only imagine how her soulmate was feeling.  


The fourth day, there was barely any pain at all. The aching had become so muted that Clarke had full range of motion and full extent of her lungs. Of course, just because the pain was gone didn’t mean that she focused at all during class. In fact, quite the contrary. She was entirely too distracted by how strangely fast her soulmate had recovered from debilitating pain. It terrified her.  


The numbness lasted about a week before pain returned in force. Clarke could ignore it most of the time, but at this point the aching, sharp, crushing pain in her chest was ever present. There was no end, and the only time she ever got a break from the pain was when there were other pains across the rest of her body. Someone was beating the hell out of her soulmate and it was the only time her chest wasn’t aching with the desperate need for air.  


When the pain was particularly bad, and there was no sharp aches and jabs across her ribs, face, or back, Clarke took to squeezing her hand in a desperate attempt to calm her soulmate in some way. But it did nothing.

 

Lexa rode a new horse, her old mare had been retired a few weeks prior. She’d be used for breeding purposes now. The stallion she sat atop now was a gift from the Plains Rider Clans, they bred powerful beasts, brilliantly trained, and absolutely unbeatable. Nowhere else in the twelve clans could horses like theirs be found. Her stallion was black as night, and its muscles rippled underneath the short, glistening coat of fur. It was a powerful horse for a powerful leader. He was young, fresh from breaking and training, and he did wonders for her image of unflinching power.  


Just like her stallion, Lexa was cold. But she’d hardly allow anyone to see that. She paced before the line of warriors behind her. Most of her army lied in wait behind the line of trees, but she only wanted to hint at power and devastation. A month of starvation and desperation, Nia’s warriors would be weak and tired. Meeting at this battlefield, they’ll find that Lexa will take nothing but a full surrender.  


“Heda,” Anya broke the absolute silence with a nod of her head, pointing beyond Lexa with her chin.  


Lexa turned her mount and bared her teeth at the sight of glinting swords. Furs, mostly white, covered the oncoming army, pitifully small, thousands compared to Lexa’s hundreds of thousands. Lexa lifted her head and squared her shoulders. “Jus drein jus daun!” She shouted.  


The army behind her chanted those four words, a roaring, cacophony of voices echoing across the barren field. Snow hadn’t come quite yet, but frost made the grass beneath them brittle. The chanting continued, deafening and strong. It filled Lexa with power. It invigorated her.  


Revenge would be hers today.  


“Jus drein jus daun.” Lexa whispered as the army behind her shouted and screamed. Swords clashed on shields and feet stomped onto the frozen tundra ground.  


Perhaps four hundred yards away, Nia stopped her army. Entirely on foot, her warriors stood strong and tall, swiveling heads to see the end of Lexa’s army. But there would be no end, Lexa had so many people, they were stretched out from one horizon to the other. No end in sight. Nia paced at the front on her own steed. It was shaggy and not well taken care of, evidently it had been a long and perilous walk from where they came. Lexa pitied the animal. It had no business slaving away for the monster on its back.  


Nia turned her head, barking orders, and slowly, a white rag raised into the air, an infantry man pacing forth, panting to keep up with the quick trot of Nia’s horse.  


“Anya, Gustus,” Lexa barked.  


The army behind her instantly silenced. Ready to pounce, they were willing to rush forward at any moment to slay the Azgeda where they stood.  


Lexa didn’t bother to check if they were following, she knew they were, and the three started forward to meet Nia in the center. “Bring the Azgeda filth.”  


Gustus yanked his rope and stumbling forward, Toronto tripped, unable to catch himself, his nose broke on the frozen ground. “Get up.” The bear of a man grunted.  


Toronto was dragged several yards before he managed to regain his feet. Lexa did not bother to speed her horse forward to meet Nia in the center. The Queen would wait for her, the Commander is not to be hurried.  


Lexa stopped her stallion two yards from where Nia waited, atop her dreadlocked horse, its long fur allowed it to survive cold winters, but its fur was filthy and matted, Nia couldn’t even spare the servants to care for her horses. In fact, likely it was the last horse left alive. Her cavalry may have been slayed for food, by the looks of her army, they had run out of food many weeks ago.  


Lexa met Nia’s gaze with a steely one of her own. “This is your last chance, Nia. Surrender, or my army will strike you and your warriors down where they stand, and burn the rest of your clan to the ground.”  


Nia did not react, merely watched Lexa’s warriors shift hungrily along the tree line. “You gathered every warrior at your disposal? I’m honored.”  


Lexa practically snarled. “You’d be a fool to think this is all of my warriors.”  


Nia smiled a disgusting, wolfish smile. Perhaps it’d be terrifying if the rest of her body wasn’t so hollowed out from her own starvation. Even the Queen struggled to find food enough for herself. “You’d be a fool to bring all of your warriors here anyway.”  


“If these are the terms of your surrender, then they’re denied.” Lexa hissed, jerking the reigns of her mount and turning the stallion back towards her army.  


“Don’t turn your back on me!” Nia snarled.  


Lexa glanced at her over her shoulder. “Why? Because you’re a queen?” Lexa tisked. “You’re not worth my attention.”  


Lexa managed two paces before Nia swallowed her pride. “I don’t surrender. I’ve come to discuss the Azgeda entrance to the Coalition of Allied Clans.”  


Lexa froze. Her heart just about stopped in her chest. “You think you’re worthy of mercy?” She snarled, whipping her reigns and turning the poor stallion so fast Gustus’ horse startled and Toronto was nearly kicked in the face.  


“You think any of the eleven clans will accept you as an ally?” Lexa growled. “Your people don’t even respect the most ancient, spiritual bond shared by all of the human race! Your prized warrior, my prisoner, betrayed his own Keryontai!” Nia raised her chin and Gustus yanked Toronto forward. “My people do not accept savages as allies.” Lexa gnashed her teeth.  


Nia’s eyes flashed. “My people are starving! Burning their clothes for warmth and then freezing when the fires die! Winter will arrive in just another month or so and my people are desperate for wood, food, horses.” Nia advanced her horse. “If you truly stand for peace, prosperity, you will lift the blockades and you will let Azgeda in.”  


Lexa watched Nia, steely green gaze boring holes in Nia’s forehead. “We will discuss the terms of your surrender and entry into the coalition tomorrow. Anya, ensure that a watch is set up. I will not have the Azgeda attacking our army in the dead of night.” Lexa raised her chin. “I hope you are prepared to surrender all power to me, Nia Kom Azgeda. I will have final say and control over Azgeda territory and military from now on.”  


Lexa turned her mount and trotted along. “Oh, and Nia?” She stopped once more, catching the attention of the disgraced queen. “I will have justice for Costia’s life. Not only will Toronto be executed, but you must pay as well.”  


Nia glanced at her side, Roan had appeared, haggard and shaggy with an unkempt beard and long hair hanging in filthy strands in front of his face. “My son Roan was responsible for your lover’s death.” Nia simpered. “I had nothing to do with it.”  


Lexa glared. Nia was lying, of course she was lying, but Lexa had no proof. Toronto was a member of Roan’s guard, after all. “Gustus, take him prisoner. I hope you don’t mind Nia, but I will keep the criminals with me, in my camp.” It was not a request.  


Anya cantered forward to ride next to Lexa. “You plan on executing the prince?”  


Lexa set her jaw, teeth grinding together. “No, I will not kill a man for a crime his mother committed. He will be banished. But not killed. Toronto, he will die.”  


Anya nodded once. “What you are doing, Lexa, allowing Azgeda into the coalition-“  


“If you are here to tell me I’m foolish, I don’t wish to hear it.”  


“No.” Anya was quiet for a moment. “Costia would have been proud.”  


Lexa let out a shuddering sigh. “I know, I’m doing this for her.”  


“She always wanted peace.” Anya grunted. “Vengeance, justice, is only justifiable when it comes only at the expense of the wrongdoers. When innocent people are caught in the crossfire, it becomes blind, senseless violence.”  


Lexa responded with silence. She had been privy to this sort of lesson from Anya throughout her childhood and training as a warrior, but this time, it seemed Anya was almost talking to herself. Lexa needed no justification for her decision. She would allow Nia into the coalition, but she will forfeit her pride and beg for entrance at Lexa’s feet.  


Roan slumped behind Toronto as Gustus’ horse dragged the two men back towards the Kongeda line. Anya barked orders to the soldiers, immediately camp was set up and the forest nearly entirely cleared and trampled under the feet of hundreds of thousands of warriors. Lexa dismounted her horse and assisted two warriors in setting up her tent, she would need her throne, a table, and all of her maps and paperweights readied for tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a long day for Lexa.

 

Lexa had just finished buckling her sash across her shoulder the morning her Keryontai’s heart broke. The first hint of spring had finally broken through the perpetual cloud cover of winter, the sun shone bleakly and the streets were muddy with slushy snow that turned to watery boot prints the moment it was tread upon. The air was still crisp and dewy, but there was a certain smell to the air that Lexa couldn’t ever quite place, but she knew within her deepest, primal instincts that it meant life.  


It was one of the first days in a long time that Lexa felt okay. A beautiful morning, a rare, nightmare-less night, and that spring smell, today would be okay, peace among the clans for several months straight, Polis ran with very few bumps in the road, in fact, the only tragedy to have struck her people so far this winter had been the death of Costia’s fos. Lydik had finally succumbed to his age.  


But that morning, as she dressed herself, Lexa’s chest seemed to cave. Her knees gave out and she gasped for air, clawing at her chest and struggling to rid her heart of its painful squeezing.  


For a moment, Lexa feared poison, but that made no sense. She had skipped her evening meal the previous day. No, this was her Keryontai.  


That struck even more fear through Lexa’s heart. Her Keryontai very rarely felt any sort of pain. Bumps, bruises, nothing more, but this was devastating pain.  


Several moments passed before the pain lessened enough for Lexa to straighten herself, duck her head through her bed chamber door, demand one of the guards fetch Titus, and slam her door once more. She wouldn’t be able to attend to all of her duties with this intense pain. She’d see to the natblidas, but she can't afford for her ambassadors to see any ounce of weakness within her. Even if it wasn’t her own pain, her ambassadors would remember years prior when Costia was killed.  


Lexa wondered briefly if this was how her Keryontai had felt when Costia was delivered to her. She’d have Anya report to her on the movements of her warriors. Maybe this had something to do with the nomads in the dead zone, they’d been slowly edging into Sankru territories, and some of her warrior encounters with the nomads had ended violently.

 

Clarke could only think of the ground. The ground, the ground, the ground. The ground had unlimited food, unlimited water, unlimited air.  


The ground had unlimited air.  


The ground also had people on it. She knew that for a fact because her soulmate was down there. Of course, she’d never meet her soulmate. Never. She’s only a month or so from her birthday, she’s not entirely sure, the days blurred together here when all she had to tally time was the stroke of the charcoal in her fingers, but it’s not long now. And when she does turn eighteen, she’ll have a council trial, her fate will be decided then. But she knew she’ll be immediately floated. Treason wasn’t a trivial matter. Not like stealing someone’s boots or taking extra rations, Clarke would certainly be floated.  


The ground had air though.  


She finished the picture of the valley with a silent sigh and rolled to lie on her back on the cold cell floor next to her artwork. The tears came easily at first, but now she felt numb.  


Well, not entirely numb.  


She wanted to cry, she wanted to vomit, scream, claw her heart from her chest to stop this pain, but that wouldn’t bring her father back. It would only hurt her more. So she stared at the ceiling of her drab gray cell and wished she were tall enough to reach the untouched canvas above her.  


She thought of her dad a lot. Jake would tell her to stop drawing on the walls and floors. He’d tell her not to use charcoal because the dust clogged the air vents and would only make things worse. But she was doomed anyway so what did it matter?  


She almost didn’t notice it at first, the squeezing around her right hand. Her soulmate had never attempted to communicate with her. Not once. Not even when Clarke first tried to reach out to them. But when she did notice it, it was like someone had opened the floodgates behind her eyes.  


Tears streamed down her temples and dripped to the floor beneath her head, wetting the crown of blonde hair surrounding her. She pressed her right hand close of her chest and curled in on herself. She wouldn’t ever meet this person, this person who had felt so much pain throughout their life but still found it within themselves to attempt to comfort Clarke in the darkest moment of her short life. Despite the distance between them, Clarke had a connection with this person, this completely mysterious person, she’d never met. This connection had been decided by something that even the Ark’s superior science and innovation couldn’t explain, and yet despite having never seen or talked to this person, Clarke found that it was the only comfort that she could draw from anywhere. In this cold, dark, metal cell, there was nothing familiar or friendly, all she had was a diminishing piece of charcoal, and the throbbing sensation of her soulmate’s attempt at comfort.  


Clarke trembled and cried and gasped, and when she finally fell asleep, cradling her right hand against her chest, she felt at least slightly lighter. Her life was bleak, and getting bleaker by the minute as the clock ticked closer to her birthday, but she had this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Been a couple of days but the wait wasn't totally awful this time! :D Now that is character development if I don't say so myself. The dogs are getting used to each other, in case yall were curious, our rescue is nice and comfy in his new home and as to be expected our other dog, the one we raised as a puppy, is just wondering what the actual fuck is going on. Anyway, here's some updates on Clarke's position, bit of a time jump there, and now we get into what happens in the show. yay :D Also, alert, rambling ahead, there's so many plot holes in the universe of the 100 I'm gonna just start writing them in here when I can't fit them in the story. Sorry ahead of time.
> 
> Now, this part really isn't necessary to read, I just have nowhere else to blurt out my annoyances with canon, but why is Trigedasleng called the Tree People Language when every other clan also speaks that? Like there's a reason English is called Gonasleng, it's the language of warriors, so it's an easy way for people from differing clans to communicate. But as we've seen, we have differing cultures interacting in Trigedasleng (maybe a standardized language Lexa put in? But they already have a standardized language: English) cultures that have evidently evolved separately until recently as evidenced by the way Azgeda does clan scars rather than tattoos, and I'm sure there are other examples, but this is just one detail pointing towards regional separation of cultures, which encourages language evolution differently. Take a look at French, Spanish, and English, all developed from Latin but very separate languages thanks to physical separations of the different countries. So how come Azgeda speaks the same English-slang based language as the say, broadleaf clan, which I'm assuming is much further south since northern trees with broad leaves don't survive very long? Plus, Azgeda kind of leaks into Canadian territory, and I know virtually nothing about Canada but don't you think you'll have a French and English slang based language? I'm just saying Azgedasleng should be very different from Trigedasleng, and very different from the languages in the more southern and western regions of North America. I mean, a Texan is not going to pronounce and use the same slang words as a Virginian or a New Yorker, so why the hell did language evolve so evenly? This bothers me a lot.  
> 


	6. Chapter 6

Lexa had become accustomed to the constant ache of her chest. Sometimes it was difficult to catch her breath, sometimes it lifted enough that she barely noticed it, but it almost never went away. Anya told her that sometimes she felt that ache as well, it came with the heartbreak and emotional pain of the Keryontai.  


Lexa was shocked to learn this. She had never felt extensive emotional pain from her Keryontai, she had assumed it was solely a physical connection. Immediately guilt shot through her belly. She had been causing her Keryontai so much pain in the last few years.  


Titus told her that Heda must suffer alone, but Lexa was not the only one to suffer.  


About a month after her chest pain began, Lexa sat in her throne room, waiting idly for her ambassadors to completely arrive. As per usual, the ambassador to the Glowing Forest Clan was late. Grumpily, Lexa made a mental note to have a discussion with that ambassador, and if that didn’t work, she’d have another discussion on her balcony. She’d had a headache all day as well, and she had a feeling that it didn’t have anything to do with her own skull.  


Her body had been aching much more, the last two days, obviously her Keryontai’s life had changed considerably. Rapidly switching from a decent, painless life to emotional and physical pain and suffering, Lexa couldn’t help but worry, even if she had never met the other person. At least they had been safe all their life.  


“Heda!” Someone shouted as they entered the large double doors. The man was covered in sweat and hadn’t bothered to take his armor or riding gear off of his person as he scrambled to run towards her. “Heda! Urgent news from TonDC!”  


Lexa stood and swept towards the man. “Everybody out, this is strictly Trikru business!” Lexa ordered, satisfied in the almost immediate evacuation of the throne room. The only people left were her top advisors, Anya, Gustus, and Titus.  


“Chit yu gaf?”  


“There are invaders near TonDC.” The man rushed out. “They fell from the sky and poured out of this metal box. Indra set a five mile radius around them and they immediately attempted to cross it in order to go towards the Maunon. They dress and speak like the Maunon too. There are one hundred yongon, but one of them, the only adult, has a fayogon.” He gasped for air. “They run and play throughout the forest, scaring away all of the game, like they’ve never been free along the ground.”  


“The Maunon has managed to come outside?” Lexa tilted her head.  


“No, they are like the Maunon, but they fell from the sky. A piece of their box damaged a few buildings in TonDC.”  


“The sky?” Lexa furrowed her brows.  


“Sha, Heda.”  


“Very well, go, rest, water your horse.” Lexa dismissed the messenger and as soon as the double doors closed behind him, she whipped around to her three advisors, making direct eye contact with Titus. “You understand the importance of this, Titus.” She stated. “Anya, gather your gona. You will go to TonDC and provide martial support. Do not approach the Skaikru. Maintain the border, but do not attack unless they attack you. If they approach in an attempt to negotiate, negotiate with your best judgment, Anya. I must prepare Polis for my absence and I will follow you to TonDC in two days.”  


“Heda, there are only one hundred, we could wipe them out easily.” Anya furrowed her brows.  


“No!” Lexa and Titus both snapped. Lexa glared at him for silence. “They fell from the sky, Anya. This is where the first Commander, Beca, came from. We can’t risk slaughtering people who could be Natblida or even important to the Flame.” Lexa paced. “Titus will remain in Polis to tend to my duties here, Gustus will travel with me to TonDC. Now, I must go meditate. Titus, cancel the ambassador meeting for today, Anya, leave now, get to Polis by tomorrow.”  


Lexa swept from the room and headed to her bed chambers for peace.  


It may be her last peaceful moments for quite a while.

 

“Fifty two, but who’s counting?” Raven was.  


Oh Raven definitely was counting. She counted a lot of things, like how many years it had been since a mechanic her age had made it into the zero-g program onboard the Ark, like how many days until Finn turned eighteen and had the opportunity to argue for his freedom before the council, like how many days it had been since the hundred prisoners were sent to the ground and she was told that she couldn’t see Finn any longer. She counted how many times she saved the Ark’s ass by taking big risks that not even Sinclair would take. She counted how many people were going to be culled if she didn’t succeed, even as Abby Griffin spoke. She counted all of the parts she would need to make a shitty, long out of date, filthy, and degenerated drop ship work well enough to keep her alive. She counted how many rations she would have to trade Nigel in order to get those parts. Oh she counted.  


So as Abby struggled to find the leverage she would need to convince Raven to help her, Raven was nine steps ahead. She had a checklist made and ready to go. She had weighed the consequences of getting caught over the consequences of failing over the consequences of succeeding. She had made her decision the moment Abby had told her that Finn was on the ground. She was going down there too. That was the only decision to be made. The only choice she had.  


So when Abby finally stopped talking to get her answer, she said yes. Of course she said yes. She was the only one on the Ark who could do the job at all, let alone in four days. Not only does her opportunity to see Finn ever again rely on her doing this job, not only does her own life rely on her doing this job, but three hundred (three hundred and twenty one, but who’s counting?) people would be culled if she didn’t do this job. So, yes. She said yes.  


The moment she stepped towards the pod, her fingertips began to itch. Yeah, this plan had a lot riding on it, but damn if it wasn’t fun.  


This pod was a fucking relic. The bolts she had to take apart were practically crumbling in her fingers, and some were so warped they were unusable. She wouldn’t trust these things in the pressure chamber during launch. Her pod would rip itself apart.  


Yeah, the bolts would need to be replaced, and a few panels could do with replacing. And who the fuck wired this thing? One of the monkeys shot into space in the 1960’s? She’d have to strip and rewire this thing to make sure there wouldn’t be any sparks that would blow her up. That was just the external. She shuddered to see the internal.  


She shuddered all right. The pressure stabilizer was entirely missing. Nothing there. Someone probably got to this pod and took it out for spare parts. Her head would literally explode the moment they launched into space. She wouldn’t even have the opportunity to burn to ash in the atmosphere!  


The navigation system was bum. She’d have to recalibrate it and try and fix it from there. If she drops without that she could end up on the wrong continent. Which would do no one any good.  


She needed to check the chute, without that she’ll go splat. But she’d leave her mark all right, a nice, sizeable crater future historians would name the Reyes Crater. What an honorable way to go.  


One good thing though, it seemed most of the controls were still up to par. At least, usable, not quite up to Raven’s standards, but they would work and keep her alive.  


Raven had her work cut out for her.

Two days of intense work and she finally got around to that pressure regulator. She knew Nigel had the part. But she really didn’t want to visit any old friends of her mom’s. She had just gotten out of that mess and she had no intention of returning.  


But, she also had no intention of having her brains leak out of her tear ducts.  


And so, in only an hour, she found herself facing Nigel, ready to trade her a favor, some rations, anything. “You can’t be serious.”  


Except that.  


“What do you think your mother traded for booze?”  


“My rations. Nigel.” Raven snarled. “I would know, they were supposed to be mine.”  


Nigel shrugged. “Rations aren’t always enough for what your mother was wanting. I have to pay the right people, and you can be sure as shit I’m not doing anything of the like.”  


Raven practically growled. “I’m not doing it.”  


“It’ll only be an hour or so-“  


“No.”  


“Then you’re not getting a pressure regulator.” Nigel shrugged. “I trust you can see yourself out.”  


Raven stalked from the room and back to her precious drop pod. She would tell Abby to get the regulator when she came to check on her. But for now, she had some dents in the panels to hammer out and a chute to pack.

“You went to Nigel?” Abby demanded as she burst into the room a few hours later. “Kane has been trying to bust her for years.”  


Raven shrugged a shoulder. “I needed a pressure regulator. She has one, but the price was too high. Sorry Doc, but I’m not willing to sell myself for this. Some things are just too traumatic.” Raven shook her head. “So that falls on you. Get the regulator, I’ll install it, and we can launch.”  


“How quickly can you install it?”  


“Couple of hours once we have it.”  


“I’ll get you the part. Just don’t do anything that will implicate us in anymore crimes than we’re already about to commit.” Abby warned, glaring at the younger girl.  


Without any further fanfare, Abby marched from the room, shoulders so tense they practically touched her ears. Raven clicked her tongue as she continued to perform the hundreds of little repairs required of the pod to get into working order.

 

Bellamy had one reason and one reason only to be alive.  


Take care of Octavia.  


That’s all he cared about. He didn’t care about the hundred children looking to him for guidance. He didn’t care about Clarke’s strange hatred for Wells. He didn’t care about Finn’s fascination with Clarke. He didn’t care about Murphy’s mean streak. And he certainly didn’t care about those assholes up on the Ark. The ones who took advantage of and then threw away his mother. The ones who threw away his chance at a good life for the actions of his mother. The ones who forced his sister under the floorboards. The ones who locked her in the Skybox for being alive. The ones who sent her to die.  


No he didn’t care much about anybody but Octavia.  


Of course, that meant that she had to push him away and run wild through the trees and sleep with any boy who would have her (which was just about all of them). Octavia, he supposed, was officially a rebellious teenager.  


Yeah, he knew what it felt like to rebel, but he guessed that Octavia never got the chance to do anything fun. The least he could do was let her go off with Clarke, Finn, and those other boys. What trouble could she get into away from everyone else?  


Bellamy couldn’t contain his smile as he watched the hundred whoop and holler and run through the forest with abandon. Even he couldn’t fight the lightness in his chest as he basked in the sunlight that seemed to melt away his sins and breathe in air with a taste on his tongue he’d never experienced. It was light, and organic, it lacked the stale, chemical, metallic smell that the Ark had, though it’s not like Bellamy had noticed, he’d lived there his whole life. Stepping foot on the ground, relishing in the way it sponged and sprang beneath him, wading through grass and feeling the breeze ruffle his hair, it was a brand new experience, something he’d grown to manhood assuming he’d never feel.  


But here he was, and he’d go down in history as the older brother of Octavia the Younger, the first person to step back on the ground since the destruction of mankind. So as he walked through the woods, exploring his new surroundings, there was a spring in his step and he felt the stress melt from his shoulders.  


But his mood dropped as he felt the beginnings of a headache twitch and ache at his temples and behind his eyes. It was frustrating having a soulmate. He didn’t care much for consistent and constant aches and pains that weren’t even his own. When he wasn’t dealing with his own pains from whatever trouble he managed to get into, like guard training, he was dealing with his soulmate’s constant migraines and stiff joints.  


It was downright infuriating.  


Yes, he still wanted to meet her. He knew she was female because she had fucking awful menstrual cramps every month, (he’d never looked down on a woman for being grumpy every month since that started). In fact, whenever Octavia complained of cramps he spent hours curled up with her, rubbing her stomach and telling her stories of the ancient Romans. He had to empathize though, it was weird and awful, and it wasn’t even his uterus!  


He better get back to the dropship though, nightfall was coming and the kids were going to start getting cold and hungry and tired, and he ought to take charge. Since he was the only adult on the ground, responsibility fell on his shoulders.  


But he’d be damned if he ran things the way the Ark did. Fuck Jaha, and fuck the Ark.  


He’d take care of the kids that couldn’t take care of themselves, the younger ones, but for the rest, they could do whatever the hell they wanted.  


Even as he reached the dropship, there were groups of delinquents sitting around in the grass, laughing, talking, and dozing. “Murphy,” Bellamy barked. If anyone could give him authority it’d be the lead thug within the Skybox. Octavia had told him about Murphy, how he had a couple of goons that’d do whatever he told them to. “Go and round everyone up. It’s time to make camp. None of us are going to live long without a base.”  


Murphy lifted his head from where he and his bully friends had been huddled. “Why me?”  


Bellamy rolled his eyes. “Just do it. Get your friends and round everyone up.”  


Murphy looked Bellamy up and down, eyes landing on the gun at his hip. “Alright. We’ll be back then.”  


Bellamy nodded and moved to the dropship. A few of the previously loosened panels had been entirely torn off, and Bellamy suspected they were to make the knives that Murphy’s group had been carving into a branch with. He should probably make one himself.  


Ripping a panel off as he went, Bellamy stepped into the dropship and sighed. Nothing had been scavenged from the ship yet, but he was going to need to organize these kids and get them building tents and structures. Once Clarke came back with the rations, he’d have them fed and comfortable. They’d be listening to his authority in no time.  


The echoing of footsteps behind him alerted Bellamy to the presence of another person. He turned to find Wells Jaha, his arms crossed, regarding him with observant, calm eyes. “Well if it isn’t the princess’s prince?” Bellamy sneered.  


Wells rolled his eyes. “I’m not looking to start shit Bellamy. I want to help. I heard you tell Murphy to get everyone rounded up. Couldn’t hurt to have an extra pair of hands to help while Clarke is off looking for the supplies.”  


Bellamy grit his teeth. “If you think I have any intention of working with a Jaha-“  


Wells rolled his eyes again, huffing a long suffering sigh. “I’m a criminal too remember? Just like you, just like everyone else here. My dad put me in here because that’s what happens when you break the law. Actions have consequences-“  


“I don’t need a lecture from you.” Bellamy snarled. “Especially not about what’s right and wrong when the people here are overwhelmingly grunt workers from grunt families.”  


Wells averted his eyes to the side. “I’m not saying that the law is necessarily fair and equal towards everyone, but the rule of law is still necessary to ensure the survival of everyone. And down here? We have a chance to change things. You’re in a natural position of power, as an adult on the ground with a hundred kids, and the only one with a gun. Add in a familiar face that these kids can trust-“  


“Trust?” Bellamy laughed sardonically. “Your father put us in here. You think anybody trusts you?”  


Wells shrugged. “Either way, you need to institute a law system. A set of rules, something. Because we’ll fall apart very quickly if you don’t.”  


Bellamy’s head twinged with pain once more. “I’m not going to become the Chancellor of the ground if that’s what you’re asking.”  


Wells shook his head. “No, just get them organized, start breaking up arguments and fights and lead us. Clarke is doing her best, but none of them know her. She was in solitary for the last two months. They know you, they see that you’re not a guard, you’re Octavia’s brother, and you have that gun. You need to step up.”  


Bellamy shook his head, massaging his temple. “Fine, fine. What do we do now? I know we need to set up camp, I know that. But there’s not enough blankets. There’s no food, no water.”  


Wells shrugged. “Most of the kids have already been down to the stream nearby. Splashing around, drinking, the water’s close enough that we don’t need to worry about it. The food problem, hopefully Clarke will be able to solve by tomorrow. We need to focus most on making camp and organizing a system of rules. At least establish who is in charge.”  


Bellamy shrugged. “So what? Stage a power play?”  


Wells shook his head. “No, that could be dangerous. Just, keep everyone busy and safe until Clarke comes back.”  


Bellamy nodded. “You get to work on building a bonfire, I’m going to see what materials we can scavenge from the dropship to make tents.”  


“Check the chutes.” Wells waved, already halfway outside.

As it turned out, the children were very efficient in setting up camp, and Bellamy was proud to find a roaring bonfire and several large tents in a circle around the blaze within a few short hours. Wells had dug two graves for the kids that had died during landing, and a set of latrines on the other side of camp, downwind, thankfully. Once the sun had set, camp settled, and it settled rapidly. The children were exhausted from their day of frolicking and working. Whoever wasn’t asleep by the time the brightest stars were winking into the violet sky were watching in silent awe as the sky darkened, like ink spilling across a page, and the solar system slowly revealed itself to them.  


Bellamy wasn’t immune to the stars himself, but his stargazing was cut short by the steady movement of one of the bright lights, the one he knew to be the Ark. As if on cue, he remembered the wrist bands that reported the delinquents’ vitals to the doctors onboard the station. His blood ran cold. If they continued monitoring the kids and found that the ground was inhabitable, they’d come down, and Bellamy would be executed for treason. He’d shot the chancellor in order to get on board the dropship with Octavia. But that also meant that the pardon the delinquents were offered wouldn’t extend to him, if it was carried out at all.  


He needed to get those wristbands off of those kids. He’d start tomorrow, for now they needed rest.

Of course, the next day didn’t bring them any sort of rest, or food for that matter. Clarke, Finn, Octavia, and one of the nerdy boys Bellamy didn’t bother with returned, talking about Jasper and how he’d been killed by someone else with a spear to the chest. They weren’t alone, they weren’t alone, they weren’t alone.  


They weren’t alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was UTTER HELL to write holy shit. This thing was a complete fucking mess oh my god. But it was a necessary mess. I'm so sorry for this drivel. Next chapter will be better I promise.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Clarke would never admit that seeing Wells alive was comforting. She had never expected the people on the ground to be hostile. They hadn’t done anything to the Grounders, though she supposed they invaded their territory, but that was the worst of the damage!  


Bellamy clearly hadn’t thought of the possibility that there would be people on the ground because the moment Octavia told him about Jasper, he nearly fainted. Clarke couldn’t completely blame him. The Ark had been adamant and insistent that they were the last of humanity.  


“What do you mean you knew people were on the ground?” Bellamy hissed down at Clarke as the six of them huddled out of earshot of the rest of the delinquents.  


Octavia rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter what we knew or didn’t know. Jasper is dead and there are people between us and Mount Weather.”  


Bellamy crossed his arms, scowling down at the smaller girl. “We need supplies.”  


Wells cleared his throat, shrinking slightly at Clarke’s intense glare. “I was looking at the map, and there’s another bunker nearby, this side of the river. Maybe we can scavenge whatever’s left from there?”  


Finn nodded empathically. “Let’s do that. It’s our best shot.”  


“We need to secure camp better, if there are hostile people out there, we have to protect ourselves.” Bellamy grunted. “Tomorrow we start building a wall, put together weapons.” Bellamy eyed the adolescents before him, daring them to argue. “I’ll go tomorrow with Wells to the bunker. We’ll scavenge what we can, and get back before sundown.”  


“Why you?” Octavia scoffed.  


“Gun,” Finn jutted his chin towards Bellamy’s holster. “If they run into someone, Bellamy will be able to defend them.”  


“Fine.” Clarke agreed primly. “We need to scout the area out, though. We need to know what’s around us, and who.”  


Octavia grinned. “I’ll come with you then.”  


“Octavia-“ Bellamy warned.  


“That makes three. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at cartography.” Finn grinned.  


“And what about me?” Monty spoke for the first time. Clarke knew he and Jasper were close, and she felt a surge of sympathy for the boy.  


“We need you to find a way to get in contact with the Ark.” Clarke patted his shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. Though, she was sure it didn’t work.  


Monty shook his head. “The system is totally fried from reentry. I checked it before we left.”  


Bellamy cut in. “We don’t need the Ark.”  


“What the hell does that mean?” Clarke demanded. “They sent us down to see if Earth is survivable. It is. So now we need to make sure they know that.”  


Bellamy rolled his eyes. “Why should we care about them? They sent us down like lab mice. Now’s our chance to live our lives. Half of us were going to be executed by the Council anyway.”  


Clarke made eye contact with Wells, and the boy gave her a nod. “The Ark is dying.” She murmured. “My father-“ her voice cracked. “Before he was floated, found an error in the oxygen system. They have only a couple of months left to live before the air runs out.” Bellamy paled significantly. “Yeah, if they don’t make a connection with us and find out that we’re alive and thriving, hundreds of people could die.”  


Wells cleared his throat. “Last I talked to my father, he mentioned something about the possibility of a culling. Kane was pushing for it to buy time.”  


Monty clenched his jaw and nodded. “Then I need to find some sort of way to transmit up to the…” He snapped his fingers. “The bracelets. I’ll need a couple of bracelets, I can take them apart and maybe find a way to communicate using Morse code or something.”  


Bellamy shrugged awkwardly. “Murphy has been taking off bracelets all day. You can have those.”  


“You’ve been taking them off?” Clarke snarled.  


“Look, Princess, I didn’t exactly know about the top secret shit going on up there, I was a janitor remember? My parents weren’t members of the council.” Bellamy snapped bitterly. He glared at Wells and Clarke respectively. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. There were only a dozen or so kids that wanted them off right now anyway. But they’re uncomfortable. That’ll change soon.”  


“Then make them stop.” Clarke ordered.  


“No,” Bellamy hissed. “This isn’t the Ark. If they want to do something, then let them do whatever the hell they want!”  


“What we do down here affects what happens up there!” Clarke argued. “I’m not going to sit here and let you sentence hundreds of people to death just because you’re bitter that you lost someone!”  


“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” Bellamy shoved past her.  


Clarke was livid. She lost her father trying to save the Ark, and everyone on it. Of course Bellamy would ignore any sacrifices and pain she’s felt in favor of his own selfish need to pity himself. Clarke gritted her teeth, it’d be best if she didn’t show outright aggression to the man most of the delinquents looked to for leadership.  


“Clarke-“  


“Leave me alone, Wells.” Clarke snarled at the taller boy. “I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”  


Finn cleared his throat awkwardly. “Well, at least we have a plan. Let’s go get some rest, yeah?”  


Octavia grinned at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Yeah, we’ll need plenty of rest for tomorrow. Maybe we’ll find more two headed deer. Do you think that’s normal around here? What if there’s entire herds of them?” Octavia followed after Finn as the two chattered excitedly about what tomorrow might find, conveniently ignoring the danger they’d be putting themselves in.

 

Bellamy and Wells marched through the forest in a line, Wells before Bellamy, gun out and ready to fire on anyone that posed a threat. Bellamy watched the boy in front of him as much as he watched their surroundings. Wells, even though Clarke seemed to hate him, was obviously loyal to the blonde. Clarke was angry yesterday, and so Bellamy needed to watch his own back to make sure she hadn’t asked Wells to kill him.  


“We should be there soon.” Wells broke the silence between them.  


Bellamy grunted in response, brushing aside hanging branches scratching at his forehead.  


The two stepped into an overgrown clearing, kudzu climbing up the trees and covering the ground with a leafy blanket two feet deep. “This is it.” Wells mumbled, glancing down at the wrinkled and yellowed map in his hands.  


“Look for an entrance.” Bellamy ordered, stepping forward and grabbing a handful of the vines and yanking them up.  


A few minutes later, “Hey Bell! I found a spider!”  


Bellamy wanted to ignore Wells’ boyish excitement, but he couldn’t help it, spiders didn’t exist on the Ark, so he jogged over to see it. Wells had a fascinated smile on his face as he watched a rather large arachnid climb over a vine he held. Even from a slight distance, Bellamy could see each of its eyes. The thing was the size of his fist. “You know what? We should leave it alone.” Bellamy stopped, shifting on his feet as the spider slowly climbed closer to Wells.  


“But most spiders are harmless.” Wells laughed, shifting the vine. “They feed on insects, and some spiders have mouths so small that they couldn’t bite humans even if they cared to. Plus, like scorpions, the bigger the spider, the less dangerous.”  


“Look man, I get that you’re really into Earth studies, or whatever, but if the radiation creates things like glowing butterflies and moss and two headed animals, it can make cannibalistic spiders. Just saying, our information is a little out of date.”  


Wells chuckled and set the vine down. “If you say so. Still cool though.”  


Bellamy swallowed the uneasiness and turned away, before nearly immediately tripping over a metal object hidden in the foliage. Bellamy shoved the vines away from the rusted metal, cringing at the smaller spiders scattering at the disturbance of their nest, and revealed a metal wheel, likely a bunker entrance. “Wells, found it.”  


The other boy perked up from his place on the other side of the clearing and trudged toward Bellamy as he began to yank on the rusted wheel. “Lemme help.”  


Together, the two managed to wrestle the grate open and reveal the dark maw of the bunker. “Smells awful.”  


Wells shrugged. “Water probably found its way in and spoiled. Stale air and everything like that.”  


Bellamy grunted. “Let’s go.”  


The two slowly made their way down the ladder, silently hoping that it wasn’t so rust rotten that it turned to dust beneath their feet. As predicted, Bellamy’s first step in the bunker was into a puddle of foul smelling water.  


“Look around for anything that we can use, food, blankets, weapons.”  


The boys split up, one taking each wing of the bunker. They were mostly quiet as they fumbled around in the dark before Wells finally found some flashlights with working batteries. Wells found blankets, but Bellamy found two barrels of automatic rifles packed in grease.  


“Perfect.” Bellamy smiled over to Wells. “Just what we need to defend ourselves.”  


“You think we should be giving all of the kids guns?” Wells debated. “They’re scared, kinda angry at each other and the Ark. It could be dangerous.”  


Bellamy frowned. “What? Afraid someone will hurt you because of your daddy?”  


Wells shrugged. “I’m right to be. You don’t think Murphy wants me dead? He made it clear while we were up there in the box. I’m just saying, if you give a bunch of scared delinquents deadly weapons bad things are going to happen.”  


Bellamy furrowed his brows. “We’ll give them to those on guard duty and take them back when they come off.” Bellamy decided. “We’ll secure them in the dropship away from everyone else.”  


Wells nodded. “That’s sound. Let’s get back-“ Wells was interrupted by a clap of thunder. “Or maybe not.” He jogged through the damp bunker and scrambled up the ladder to poke his head from the door. “Yep, storm rolled through while we were down here. Too dark to go anywhere.”  


Bellamy growled. “We need to get back today. Especially now that we have guns.”  


“Listen, Bell, we’re going to get lost out there with a storm going on and at night.” Wells climbed back down the ladder. “It’s just downright idiotic to go out there now.”  


Bellamy lashed out at the overturned barrel, the sound of metal clanging on metal and concrete echoing throughout the bunker. Wells rolled his eyes and meandered through the bunker. “At least there’s cots here. Smells, but we’ll survive the night.”

Bellamy and Wells spent most of the following few hours in near complete silence. The two boys didn’t have much in common to talk about anyway, and besides, neither of them were in much of a talkative mood. But the silence was starting to choke him, so Bellamy looked over to the other boy.  


“You in love with Clarke or something?”  


Wells startled and whipped his head to look at him. He must have caught Wells off guard. “Eh, no. I’m not like, in love, with her. But she’s my best friend and I love her. Why?”  


Bellamy shrugged. “She hates you and you’re still off doing everything you can for her. Seems like a waste of energy to me.”  


Wells shook his head. “It’s complicated. If she knew the truth she wouldn’t hate me, but she’d be alone.” He shrugged. “It hurts me, but I know that if she knew the truth she’d be in even more pain than now.”  


Bellamy was silent. “What happened?”  


Wells was quiet for a moment. “You can’t tell her.”  


“I won’t. Honestly if I tried to talk to her she’d probably try to punch me.”  


“I don’t blame her.” Wells sent a half smile to Bellamy. “You’re an ass.”  


Bellamy shrugged. “I’m working on it.”  


“Are you?”  


“Tell me.”  


Wells sighed. “Her father discovered the fault in the oxygen system and went to tell her mother, Abby. Clarke overheard and told me, made me promise not to tell my father.”  


“Seeing as Clarke is here and her father is dead, I’m assuming you did.”  


Wells chuckled darkly. “Except I didn’t. Abby did.”  


“So her mother killed her father.” Bellamy furrowed his brows. “And she doesn’t know?”  


Wells shook his head. “She and her father were close. She needs Abby, you know? I’ll let her believe it was me so that she can keep at least one of her parents. You know? She needs someone.”  


Bellamy sighed. “You’re better than I am. I don’t think I could do that.”  


Wells shrugged. “We grew up together. It’s what you do for the people you love. You make sacrifices.”  


Bellamy nodded. “I grew up on half rations. I’d give half of my rations to Octavia in the morning, and my mother would give half of her rations to Octavia in the evening. I hated mornings.”  


Wells laughed. “So did I, but not for the same reasons, obviously.”  


Bellamy grunted. “I was going to be a guard, but then Octavia got caught, coincidentally because of me. Then I got fired and went on to be a janitor.”  


Wells furrowed his brows. “How did you get on board the dropship wearing a guard uniform?”  


“I did a favor for Commander Shumway.”  


“What kind of favor?”  


“What did you do to make your father put you in the Skybox?” Bellamy shot back.  


“Stole some meds from Abby’s station at the hospital. Got caught on purpose. Big enough offense that my father couldn’t get around imprisoning me, but small enough that I wouldn’t be floated on my eighteenth.” Wells shrugged. “Your turn.”  


Bellamy sat up. He couldn’t tell him; he’d be signing his own death certificate. “We’re taking turns now?”  


“What else do we have to do down here. We’re going to be stuck together for a long time, and in hostile situations, might as well get to know each other, the best and worst parts.”  


Bellamy shook his head. “No, you won’t like what I have to say.”  


Wells scoffed. “My best friend was imprisoned for treason and I’m surrounded by thieves and murderers. I think we can agree that my tolerance for crime is rather high.”  


Bellamy’s stomach roiled. “I shot your father.”

 

“Abby! We have to go right now!” Raven shouted as she fumbled with her space suit. “Get suited up! Screw the pressure regulator!”  


“Abby Griffin you are under arrest, surrender yourself immediately!”  


“Raven, go! Get to the ground, radio up to the Ark! Go without me! Go!” Abby screamed over the chaos and clatter of the guards trying to burst through the doors.  


Raven glared at the older woman before throwing her helmet on and closing the dropship. “Alright, navigation, check, fuel, check, flight controls, check, everything else? Fuck it.” Raven fumbled to start up the navigation controls. “Alright Abby, let her go.” She called through the intercom in her ship. “Drop me.”  


Seconds later, with two guards trying to drag her away, Abby slammed her hand down on the button that released the ship into the vacuum of space and Raven was ripped away into orbit.  


Immediately, alarms sounded around her as the ship struggled to keep her alive. “Yes, yes, I know there’s a pressure regulator malfunction.” Raven snapped at the little red light blinking in her face. “A bit late don’t you think? Without this suit you’d be beeping at a corpse.”  


The ship slowly drifted towards the landing zone with a bit of Raven’s guidance, but the alarms didn’t quiet at all. In fact, another one went off to her right, an alarm warning of her loss in altitude. “NASA sure built you to be annoying didn’t they? Fuck. I know I’m losing altitude I’m doing it on purpose!” Raven shouted in frustration. “This would be so much nicer if my destination was programmed up on the Ark.” She grumbled. “Shut up!”  


Atmosphere reentry was frankly terrifying. But also, entirely fucking awesome. Raven felt like her skeleton was being rattled so much that her spleen might rupture just from the shaking, and her teeth clanked together, tearing a pretty decent gash in her tongue and cheek, but other than that, she kept her cool. Raven Reyes does not panic, after all.  


But once she caught side of the ground, she certainly felt the adrenaline. “Fuck, fuck! You were working a second ago!” She screamed. The rocket boosters at the bottom of her craft designed to slow her fall were malfunctioning, one wouldn’t start and if she started the other her ship would turn over and she’d land upside down and dead. Her window for starting them was quickly closing. “Fuck!”  


Raven punched the control panel. Because that usually worked when dealing with incredibly sensitive equipment designed to keep humans alive during _atmospheric reentry. ___  


But, this time, it did. The boosters shuttered into action and let off their fiery wonder and saved Raven’s ass. Stars, she loved rockets.  


“Fuck!” She laughed. “Oh fuck, baby you should not do that again, holy fuck.”  


The ship wasn’t slowing enough, but she wasn’t too worried now. It was mission critical right now, she had a small window to release the chutes she packed just the other day, and if that malfunctioned, even with the rocket boosters she was still going to be a crater in the ground.  


If Raven Reyes panicked, now would be a good time. But Raven Reyes doesn’t panic.  


“C’mon, baby, c’mon.” Raven mumbled through gritted teeth. “Now!”  


Raven released the chutes.  


Her body was jerked back as they inflated, catching resistance in seconds. Raven’s head bounced off of the control panel and back up, dazing her.  


One of the chutes must have malfunctioned because the dropship was spinning and tumbling and Raven felt like she was being tossed about in a tin can. She could feel the formation of her concussion as it happened and her vision swam. She lost consciousness from the G-forces at altitude one thousand feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. This past month HAS BEEN A MESS. Also, writer's block. Also, I'm not happy with this chapter. Also I'm so very sorry. Please don't hate me.
> 
> Anyway, to my real comments regarding this chapter. I really don't know how to feel about it. We've got some necessary information, but I'm really out of my depth writing for Bellamy. He's just. Really fucking dumb. But I think Wells having something of a friendship with him might balance out some of that absolute idiocy that Bellamy exhibits ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Just, Bellamy, it's a good thing you're pretty because GODDAMN you're bad at decision making. Like, every time he does anything in season one I just want to scream. He's a wonderful dynamic character but not because he has much of a brain. Good thing Clarke has one.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, so this chapter takes a bit of a turn at the end, so I think I should maybe give yall some trigger warnings. I'm not very good at them, but I'm going to try.
> 
> There's going to be implied gender dysphoria and implied transphobia and very very lightly implied hate crimes.
> 
> All of this is incredibly light, and not in any detail whatsoever, but it's better to be safe rather than sorry. So if any of those things trigger you or make you uncomfortable, skip the parts after Murphy is a dick for whatever reason and head straight to the author's note at the bottom m'kay? :)

Anya had trained for years not to show her emotions. Showing emotion was a weakness that she couldn’t afford to allow her enemies to see. See, when it comes to fighting, emotion is dangerous. Very, very dangerous. Anger makes you powerful, but sloppy, and sloppy gets you killed. Fear makes you quick, but idiotic, mistakes are made when you are afraid in a fight. So, warriors like Anya, they train their entire lives to tamp down any sort of emotion, simply to maximize their chances of surviving any given fight. Stoicism and calm was the only option.  


Even then, separating her emotions from her duty did not prevent Anya from feeling. So, watching the metal star fall from the sky and feeling pain blossom across her body corresponding with each twist and turn, Anya had no way to prevent all the blood draining from her face. None of her methods were working to slow her racing pulse, and no amount of pinching or shifting made her feel any less faint.  


Her Keryontai has fallen from the sky.  


She couldn’t dwell on this for long, of course. Duty came first. If Lexa could put aside Costia’s death and lead the Coalition, then she could ignore the call of her Keryontai and lead her own people.  


“Anya,” Indra called in that clipped tone she used with everyone. “They are beginning to drift closer to TonDC.”  


“Hold the border as Heda has ordered, kill those who cross it, but do not follow them when they retreat. She will arrive later today.” Anya ordered. “Have they tried to contact the Maunon again?”  


“No, but it is only a matter of time.”  


“String the boy up. A scarecrow of the dead should warn them off for now. They’re still weak. What of the two venturing southwest?”  


“They’ve returned to camp. They have fayoguns.” Indra hissed. “They don’t function well, but they are still dangerous.”  


“We will not march on them unless Heda orders it.” Anya warned. “What of the Maunon movements?”  


“Ripa movements remain the same, but there have been the flying scouts moving towards the Skaikru base.” Indra reported.  


Anya jutted her chin towards the column of smoke drifting towards the sky. “They have more people.”  


“It landed within the border Heda has ordered.”  


Anya’s stomach dropped. She wanted a reason to retrieve the metal star. “We leave it. Heda is not to be disobeyed.”  


Indra practically snarled as she stalked away.  


Anya’s entire body ached, but the sharpest pain was in her forehead. It meant her Keryontai survived the fall, but for all she knew, her Keryontai could be incredibly dangerous and allied with the Maunon.  


Her spine was rigid as she turned back to her squadron of gona. “Send a scout to watch them. I want to know what and who is in that box. Do not be seen, do not be heard, do not attack.” Anya snapped. “Linkon, keep an eye on the Skaikru scouts drifting towards TonDC. Be on their tails, do not reveal yourself. Try to herd them away. I want eyes on the Skaikru camp. We need to know everything going on. Two gona will accompany me to meet Heda.”  


The squadron split immediately, each person going in a separate direction to fulfill their orders. Anya turned back to the smoke column. She hoped that the Skaikru turned out to be helpful to Lexa. If they turned out to be enemies, then she and her Keryontai could be on opposite sides of a war.  


That train of thought brought unwanted images of Anya slaying her own Keryontai, or the other way around, so she turned away and focused on the task at hand.

 

Raven’s head pounded with every beat of her heart, her ears rang, and every muscle in her body screamed.  


She’d never felt better in her life.  


No, that was a complete lie, she felt fucking awful.  


She was roused by someone shaking her shoulder. They were fucking loud about it too, though that might just be the concussion speaking, but Raven didn’t care what it was, just that it hurt.  


“Hey, wake up, c’mon.” Raven groaned and turned her head, face to face with a blonde cutie with a mole on her lip. “Wake up. It’s not safe here, we need to go.”  


Raven blinked a few times before she lurched from the drop ship and stumbled into the fresh air, and what was that feeling on her face? Was that water? Just falling from the sky? It was raining. It was raining!  


Raven threw her head back and laughed. “I’m on the ground.” She whispered to the sky. “I’m alive.”  


“Do you have a radio? How’d you get down here?” The blonde demanded.  


“Raven?” Raven’s head snapped to the voice along the tree lines, and her grin nearly split her face.  


“Finn!” She rushed to his waiting arms, a bit of a sloppy kiss, she had to admit, but they were both smiling a lot and there was rain, and Raven had just landed. Really, she had a litany of excuses at her disposal.  


“How did you get down here?” Finn smiled, holding her to his chest.  


“Abby Griffin sent me down to check on everyone, deliver a radio and save your asses.”  


“Abby Griffin?” The blonde interrupted.  


“You’re Clarke right?” Raven grinned.  


The blonde nodded. “When does everyone else come down?”  


“That’s the thing.” Raven shrugged. “The Ark lost connection with you guys and then you people started taking off the bracelets. It looked like radiation poisoning.”  


“Do you have a radio?”  


“Do I have- are you kidding?” Raven laughed, jogging to the dropship, only tripping a little on the overturned dirt thrown from the crater she created. “Of course I have a radio! What do you take me for? An engineer?” Clarke blinked as Raven yanked the box from the dropship and showed them. Raven laughed. “This baby is going to get us talking to the Ark, then we can tell everyone that the ground down here is just fine. Oh! And your mom says hello.”  


Raven absolutely adored the stunned look on the blonde’s face.

 

Anya had forgotten how intense and regal Lexa looked atop her black stallion, war paint running down her cheeks. It was hard to remember that the girl was only twenty summers or so. But staring down at her warriors with those narrowed green eyes, even Anya’s stomach flipped, and she had practically raised the girl.  


“Anya, report.” Heda barely spoke above a murmur, but everyone was so quiet, that her voice sounded like she yelled.  


“A hundred, they’re somewhere between adults and children. A dozen have been killed, and Linkon has been taken prisoner. They tried twice to reach the Maunon. Once, we killed one of theirs, the second, they discovered his scarecrow of the dead. They haven’t mentioned the Maunon since. Another ship landed earlier today, only one person was in it. They have tek that talks to the sky. They have more people, gona, coming soon. They try to hunt, but they’re too loud, like children or branwada. They’ve been scouting the area, but they don’t go far out of fear.”  


Heda furrowed her brows. “Who is their leader?”  


“They have two. A man, older than the rest, but a branwada, he takes charge sometimes, but mostly refers leadership to a girl, Clarke. They have a few deputies, including a thug who abuses his subordinates.”  


“Have they spoken of the City of Light?”  


Anya tilted her head. “No, Heda.”  


Lexa seemed to pause at this. “Nothing of Becca? Or Alie?”  


“No, only of the Ark.”  


Lexa nodded once. “They have fayoguns?”  


“Sha, Heda.”  


“Onto the kidnapped gona. Who is he? How was he taken and where is he held?”  


“Linkon is a gona assigned to my squadron from the gona among TonDC. I sent him to follow the Skaikru scouts venturing towards TonDC and then the fog hit. The other scouts lost track of him and one of the Skaikru. Next time we see him, he is being led into Skaikru camp by Clarke and her deputies with fayoguns pointed at him.”  


“Indra, his loyalties?”  


“Firmly with the Trikru, Heda.” Indra reported. “Even under torture he will give nothing up.”  


“Good.” Lexa turned back to Anya. “What do we know of the Ark?”  


“The Skaikru here do not like the Ark. The people on it are not good to them. But Clarke insists they must come down. The Skaion that arrived today is their messenger.”  


Lexa sat back on her horse, glaring off into the distance, lost in thought, before she turned back to Anya. “Tomorrow, we will make contact with this Skaikru, and attempt to broker a deal to recover Linkon, if not peace.”  


“Peace? Heda, they have invaded Trikru territory!”  


“That will be negotiated and atoned for later.” Lexa tamped down on Indra’s protests immediately. “For now, we must alleviate the immediate threat, and that is the fayoguns and the gona prisoner.”  


Indra’s mouth snapped shut with a click. Anya nodded once. “I will make contact with them personally, Heda, come tomorrow morning.”  


Lexa nodded in return. “Good. I will brief you and give you your orders then. As for now, we eat, we rest, and we wait.”

 

“Clarke, we have to release him.” Octavia hissed, her hand an iron vice around Clarke’s bicep. “Now.”  


Clarke had never seen Octavia panic. Not when the river snake was seconds away from killing her, not when there was a spear in Jasper’s chest, not when Octavia was kidnapped by the very Grounder she was talking about. “Octavia, he kidnapped you. Besides, he has information about the Grounders that are killing us off.”  


Octavia’s jaw flexed with irritation. “I don’t care. He saved me. Now release him. Maybe this is our opportunity to connect with the Grounders.”  


Clarke took Octavia’s hand from her bicep, massaging the knuckles before letting her hand drop. “Listen, we need the information he has.”  


“Bellamy will torture him.” Octavia was close to tears. “We can’t let that happen.”  


Clarke shook her head. “And let him get away with stabbing Finn?”  


“I will not let you hurt him.” Octavia shoved Clarke’s chest. “Either you’re with me or against me. Do you honestly want to be the person that tortured a man for saving my life?”  


Clarke paled, her heart was pounding already but the way Octavia was acting… it didn’t make sense. “Octavia, what’s really going on?”  


The sharp inhale told Clarke everything she needed to know, even before Octavia said it. “He’s my soulmate.”  


Clarke stared for a moment. “How do you know?”  


“That’s why he saved me. He saw us scouting, saw me fall while we were running from the fog, he showed me when we took shelter. You know, pinched himself, and I felt it.” Octavia whispered. “Clarke, I can’t just let Bellamy-“  


Clarke raised a hand to stop her. “We won’t let that happen okay? But listen, I need to make sure Finn survives. Once he’s stable I’ll have him released.”  


Octavia wrapped Clarke in an unexpected hug before dashing off into the drop ship once more. Clarke heaved a huge sigh and followed her in. The dropship had a metallic scent to it, the blood Finn had lost, and Clarke was afraid that she might be getting used to the smell.  


The knife had been removed, thought the extraction nearly killed Finn and Raven spent the entire procedure pacing annoyingly around Clarke. But Finn survived it, and the game was to wait for Finn to wake up. Once Finn was awake his chances of survival would go up.  


Clarke stopped to check Finn’s vitals, well, his pulse. She didn’t have any of the necessary machines to tell her anything else, but the pulse comforted her as a medic. Raven lifted her head up from where she had curled up next to him. “Are you sure he’s going to be okay? He’s so hot.”  


Clarke nodded. “He’s feverish.” She frowned. “And pale.” She bent over his face, peeling his eyelid up to look at his pupil. “Pupils blown.”  


As if on cue, Finn began to convulse. “What the fuck, Clarke, fix him!” Raven jumped away in panic.  


Clarke got to work. The seizure only lasted a few seconds, but he was foaming at the mouth and his muscles spasmed randomly. “The dagger was poisoned. We need the antidote.”  


Raven shot up the ladder almost too quick for Clarke to react. Clarke had to get to her.  


On the second floor of the dropship, Bellamy, Miller, and Octavia were stood in a half circle around the Grounder, chained standing upright, in the center of the room. Raven took three large strides to reach the man before anybody could stop her and slapped him across the face. “Where is the antidote?” She snarled.  


Octavia looked like she had been struck, though Clarke supposed, that wasn’t far from the truth.  


“Raven,” Clarke rushed forward to physically pull her back. “That’s enough.”  


The man was unimpressed. He hardly reacted, despite the large red welt already forming on his face. Though, compared to the bruises marring the rest of his shirtless body suggested that perhaps this wasn’t the worst he had been dealt today.  


“What the hell?” Octavia demanded, stepping forward.  


“He poisoned Finn!” Raven shouted, lunging at the man again.  


“Octavia, we need the antidote.” Clarke murmured under her breath to the younger girl. “You’re the one most likely to get it.”  


Octavia stared with wide eyes. There was a moment’s hesitation, but it was gone once she set her jaw and moved towards the man. “The antidote?”  


The man said nothing. Octavia whirled around, eyes landing on the bag they had confiscated from him when they had captured him. She rushed forward and dumped the vials onto the floor of the dropship. “Which one?” She hissed, looking at him pleadingly. “Please?” Octavia was begging now, but she was desperate. Clarke knew that if he helped them again, she had a better argument for his release immediately after. “Please?”  


The man winced in pain for the first time Clarke had seen, and shuffled his foot further to point at one specific vial Octavia had dumped onto the floor. Clarke swooped forward and grabbed the vial, looking up to nod her thanks once and disappeared back down the ladder towards Finn.

 

Bellamy was pissed. This bastard kidnapped his sister, stabbed his friend, and kept a notebook of everyone in the camp. Yeah, this Grounder deserved the shit he got.  


But Octavia was attached to him for whatever reason.  


Octavia wouldn’t leave him alone about releasing the Grounder. But she knew exactly why he couldn’t do that. He’d bring back all of his Grounder friends and get them all killed. So instead he left the dropship to take a walk around camp.  


Murphy was getting to be a problem, he made a lot of enemies out of the delinquents, and whenever Wells tried to temper him, tension rose between them to the point that Bellamy feared a fight would break out entirely.  


So far, Bellamy was capable of tamping down most of the fighting among the kids, but they were criminals, rebels, and free, there was only so much he could do. It would help if Wells hadn’t been avoiding him.  


Then again, Bellamy understood why, he kind of shot his father.  


Bellamy ran a hand down his face and watched silently as Murphy yelled at some kid for not working. They’d been building a wall for a couple of days now, and it was mostly finished, but the kids were hungry, tired, and scared. Murphy was not helping.  


But that’s when Wells stepped in. “Murphy, give the kid a break.” Wells snapped angrily. “They’re not your slaves.”  


“Why don’t you shut up?” Murphy snarled. “This ain’t the Ark, Daddy isn’t here to protect you. You mean nothing down here.”  


Wells flinched. “My father doesn’t matter; what matters is that you’re treating these people like they’re your slaves. So knock it off!”  


That famous Murphy rage made an appearance then, and Bellamy’s stomach flipped, this kid was a psychopath. “I’ve had it with you acting like you’re royalty or some shit!” Murphy screamed. Bellamy saw the punch coming from a mile away, and he was sure Wells did too, but he took the hit anyway. Murphy’s fist cracked across Wells cheek and Bellamy’s face exploded with pain.  


Bellamy was too stunned to intervene when Murphy tackled Wells, pounding into his face with all of the rage he had built up over the years on the Ark as a prisoner. After the fifth blow blooming across his own face, Bellamy finally stepped forward and pulled Murphy off of the younger boy. A single, sharp punch to Murphy’s nose broke it and effectively ended the fight. Murphy stumbled backwards, cursing and spiting and wiping the blood pouring from his nose and staining his shirt.  


“What the fuck?” Murphy gurgled.  


“Enough, we have people hunting us as it is, don’t start fights you won’t win.” Bellamy boomed.  


Wells coughed, blood splattering from his lips. Bellamy moved to help him, but Wells struggled to his feet on his own. “Thanks.” He ground out, it was clear he didn’t trust Bellamy any more than he did after he admitted to shooting his father, but it was a start.  


“I need to talk to you.”  


“Why so you can shoot me too?” Wells snarled. He took a breath. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that.”  


Bellamy looked to the ground. “I deserve that. But I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”  


Wells nodded, deflating as he blew out a breath. “Okay, okay.”  


Bellamy watched Wells walk off, head hung low, delinquents sneering and jeering as he walked past. Bellamy turned to a silently fuming Murphy. He looked positively murderous.  


“What the fuck is your problem?” Murphy sneered. “Protecting him? You make me sick.”  


“I don’t have to pick on little kids to feel important.” Bellamy crossed his arms. “Leave Wells alone. He’s not Jaha.”  


Murphy bared his blood stained teeth and stormed away, dripping blood as he went.  


Bellamy wiped his face again, his hand trembling. So Wells was his soulmate. It didn’t make sense, but then again, he wasn’t supposed to be on the ground at all.  


He was so fucked.  


He shot his soulmate’s father.  


Bellamy took a deep breath and then followed after Wells. Wells was leaning against the back side of the drop ship, glaring at the blood dripping onto the ground from his face. Bellamy cleared his throat as he approached.  


Wells looked up for a second, and in that time, Bellamy pinched his forearm, hard.  


Wells’ hand jumped to his arm where Bellamy had pinched himself and stared in wide-eyed shock. Bellamy had no idea how to continue the conversation, would it be continuing if he had never started it in the first place?  


“Shit.” Wells whispered, staring at Bellamy’s forearm, where the stinging patch of skin was beginning to turn red. “Shit.”  


“Agreed.” A beat of silence. “I thought you were a girl.” Wells’ eyes dropped to the ground again, Bellamy could feel the beginnings of an ache in his chest, another common feeling he had growing up. Bellamy blinked before realization dawned. “That was… insensitive.”  


“You think?” Wells’ laughter was sardonic, bitter, frankly horrifying.  


“I assumed-“  


“That’s never a good thing to do.”  


“Well I’m a shit person okay?” Bellamy snapped. “I got my sister arrested, tried to bribe a guard, assassinated the chancellor, and now I’ve hurt your feelings. I get it.”  


Wells rolled his eyes. “No, you clearly don’t because you’re still rolling in self-pity and claiming you had no choice, or ‘couldn’t have known’ when you definitely could have if you’d take a second and actually think about what you’re doing for once.”  


Bellamy hadn’t felt so thoroughly scolded since the time his mom caught him with a hickey on his neck at fifteen. It was humiliating. “What should I have thought then? Girls have-“  


“No,” Wells groaned. “No, you’re still thinking everything is black and white see? You think that because my body looks one way then I must feel that way as well. Right? But I don’t. And yeah, I’ve taken steps to make my body look as much as I feel, that’s the easy part. The hard part comes when I have to be around people like you. People who assume things, and hate me, and hurt me.” There were tears in his eyes now. “Clarke and her family, and my dad were the only people who cared to know about me rather than the ‘phenomenon’ I exemplify. Because that’s what I am to everyone else. I’m a phenomenon that should be studied and questioned and understood, but I’m a person. I like to play chess and my favorite color is green and I’ve always wanted to try oranges. But no one thinks about that. They think about my genitalia!”  


Bellamy gaped in horror. He wanted to be sick. As Wells spoke the feeling in his chest magnified and grew and blossomed into agony. “I just-“ Bellamy’s voice failed. Wells’ tears were beginning to fall, cutting a streak through the muck and grime coating his skin, Bellamy hadn’t realized how filthy they all were. “I didn’t know.”  


Wells shoulders drooped. “I know. You couldn’t have known.”  


Bellamy looked away, brows furrowed. “Well, I know now.”  


Bellamy didn’t look up when he heard Wells walk away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright alright alright another chapter for yall. This chapter was some trouble mostly because I have never written a transgender character before. Ever. I'm not transgender and no one I know of is out and willing to talk about their experiences, so all of this is from what I can glean from social media, what little representation there is on TV and in books, and good ole empathy. That being said, I need yall to be patient and willing to point things out. I've never written a transgender character and it's very important that I do this justice. So, if I write or phrase something bad or problematic, tell me (politely I promise any mistakes I make are out of ignorance rather than malice) and I will fix it promptly. Please be patient, if I make a lot of mistakes, then I make a lot of mistakes, but every _fixed _mistake is a lesson learned that I can carry into the real world and hopefully make a bit of a difference in the attitude regarding the LGBT+ community, primarily the transgender community.__
> 
>  
> 
> _  
> _Now! On to what happened for anybody who skipped due to the trigger warnings!_  
>  _
> 
>  
> 
> _  
> _Bellamy confronts Wells, is a bit of an ignorant straight dude, shocker I know, and Wells reacts accordingly. Bellamy feels like shit because Wells is so very right about how he really should stop pitying himself, Wells cries. Bellamy tries to amend his idiocy, Wells closes himself off. The end._  
>  _
> 
>  
> 
> _  
> _That's about it, all you really need to know is that Bellamy is ignorant, Wells is trans, and life kinda sucks on the Ark.__  
> 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am ashamed

Anya pitied her mount today, the horse wasn’t familiar with her, and she was so rigid and upright the poor thing shifted and struggled to balance her weight comfortably on its back. She had sent several unarmed scouts to warn the hundred not to shoot, to be prepared for their visit. One came back, explained their hesitance, that one of the scouts stayed to ensure their safety from what they called the “Grounders.” And of Lincoln, the man was alive, bruised and exhausted, but he was alive.  


Anya could see the trail ending soon, flashes of a weak wall between the trees, so she sat impossibly straighter and ignored the hard, fast beating of her heart in her throat. Somewhere in this camp was her Keryontai, and if this meeting were to go wrong, it could mean her Keryontai’s death, and her own agony.  


The scouts were correct in their descriptions of children. It had been several days, nearly a week, and they were desperate, filthy, and scared. Anya could smell it on the breeze.  


Gaunt, pale faces glared down at them, hiding their fear with hatred and violence. Anya could see signs of longterm hunger and starvation, some of these children, especially the younger ones, were no strangers to missing meals. The older ones were filthy, they gripped their fayogun with white knuckles and bared their teeth like cornered wolves. Anya had fought wolves before, she wouldn’t be intimidated by these yongon.  


The gate was pulled open by two of the larger boys, and Anya observed them down the slope of her nose. The only man, a tall broad shouldered man with unruly, curly hair and freckles dusting his cheeks stepped forward with a smaller girl, blonde hair matted with filth and blue eyes sharp as flint, at his side. Anya’s eyes scanned the other older children that circled behind their two leaders. One boy, two girls, and then the scout that had remained behind, ramrod straight for fear of the weapons around him. 

The boy seemed to do his best to remain unthreatening, perhaps the peacemaker of the group, and the girls, they stood like warrior seconds, cocky and willing to fight, but naïve and unaware of their own lacking skill.  


Anya returned her gaze to the leaders, moving slowly and purposefully to dismount her horse and step forward. The blonde raised her chin in defiance and the man only glowered. “What do you want?” He snarled, shifting his grip on his weapon.  


The blonde glared at him, and he backed away only slightly. The children likely didn’t notice, but Anya had years of political meetings and negotiations under her belt, she knew the subtleties of power dynamics. She ensured eye contact with the girl only, ignoring the man entirely. “We are Trikru Kom Kongeda, the Commander has ordered me to meet with you, to invite you to peace negotiations between our two peoples. Refusal will result in your extermination.” Anya clipped, tilting her head back to glare down at the girl.  


“Clarke-“ The man began.  


“These peace negotiations will be held where?” The girl retaliated sharply, raising a light eyebrow. Anya hadn’t expected her to react so quickly, so intelligently. Perhaps force wouldn’t work with this girl, Clarke.  


“The Commander waits in our village of TonDC.”  


“We meet in a neutral location or not at all.”  


“Clarke, Jaha would want to carry this out-“ One of the warrior girls warned.  


“The chancellor isn’t here.” Clarke never took her eyes from Anya. “Warn my mother if you want to, Raven, but they’re not down here, and until then, I’m in charge.” Clarke tilted her head, sizing Anya up. “Neutral location or not at all. You can try to kill us, but with our weapons it will take thousands of you to kill a hundred of us.”  


Anya bared her teeth, but stopped herself, her orders were clear. “I will arrange a neutral location.” She snarled.  


Clarke nodded once. “There will be a ceasefire? None of my people are to be harmed from here on out.”  


Anya would ignore her ignorance for the moment, if she did her job correctly, perhaps Lexa would let her sit in on their meeting. She’d love to watch this branwada negotiate with Lexa. “We have not harmed your people.”  


“You killed Jasper.” Clarke snapped. “We’ve lost two others since then.”  


Anya squared her shoulders. “You crossed the border towards the Maunon. If Heda finds you to be allies to the Maunon you will be executed.” Anya smirked. “Painfully. Jus drein jus daun.”  


Clarke furrowed her brows. “We have no idea what you’re talking about. The Maunon? We’ve never heard of them.”  


“I suggest you drop your lies before speaking to the Commander.” Anya warned before turning towards the wall and taking a few slow, languid steps towards her scout. “And Lincoln is to be released. If he is not, we will have no choice but to kill you.”  


Clarke raised her chin. “Octavia, go get him.”  


“Wait,” The man snarled, glaring at the girl that had turned to move through the gate. “We’re not letting him go.”  


“Why should we?” The other girl, Raven, huffed. “He nearly killed my boyfriend.”  


Clarke glanced to the sky in barely contained exasperation before turning to her. “Don’t forget that Finn was invading his home-“  


“To rescue my sister-“  


“I didn’t need to be saved!” Octavia snapped.  


Anya clenched her jaw, it seemed Clarke didn’t have nearly as complete control over her people as they had assumed. Lexa would need to know this. A people whose leadership bickered among themselves like this can be very difficult to negotiate with, it may be safer to kill them off. “Release my warrior, now.”  


The man turned, rage evident across his face. “Wanna say that again?” He growled, raising his weapon threateningly. “Last I checked you were the enemy.”  


“Bellamy,” The boy warned. “We’re outnumbered. Let Lincoln go, we’re not going to do anything with him anyway.”  


Bellamy took his eyes from Anya and moved to the boy. “He kidnapped my sister. I don’t care who you are, no one gets away with that.”  


The boy crossed his arms and raised his chin in defiance. “Octavia wasn’t hurt, and Finn survived. Let him go.”  


Bellamy bared his teeth, but allowed Octavia to slip through the gate and disappear behind the wall towards the twisted metal in the center of their camp. Clarke sighed and turned back towards Anya. “Tell me about the Maunon.”  


“You’ll learn tomorrow.” Anya clipped as she saw Lincoln, a little bruised, a little bloody, and missing his shirt, slip through the gate with Octavia in tow. “I will send a scout to bring you and a few trusted advisors to the location, no weapons, no more than five people. The Commander will comply to these terms as well. For your sake, make peace with her. You will not win a war with the Trikru.”  


Clarke gave one, silent nod and Anya turned to leave. “I’m going with him.” Octavia blurted out, a hand on Lincoln’s bicep. The man looked to the younger girl and back up to Anya, his face stoic. Anya had never met the man before the Skaikru came to the ground, she didn’t know his tells.  


“Absolutely not Octavia.” Bellamy snarled, stepping forward and ripping the girl away from Anya’s warrior. “Get out of here.” He snarled, aiming his weapon with one hand at Lincoln.  


Octavia ripped her arm from her brother’s grasp and stood between the two men. “He’s my soulmate.” She said it like some sort of defiance, Anya couldn’t understand it. “And he saved my life already,”  


Clarke cleared her throat. “Octavia, stay with us for now. Until we can assure peace between us. It’s too dangerous.”  


Lincoln leaned forward, said something quietly to Octavia that no one, not even Anya could hear, and backed away, glaring at Bellamy the entire time. Octavia nodded once. “May we meet again.”  


“We will.” Lincoln didn’t smile, but Octavia seemed to take reassurance from the words.  


Anya mounted her horse and looked down at them. “You have until tomorrow to prepare yourselves for negotiations.” Anya yanked her reigns and began a slow trot away.  


“Lincoln huh? You think maybe my soulmate will be that built? Damn.” Anya could hear the last of Raven’s words just as she lost sight of the Skaikru camp through the trees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so yikes I'm so sorry. School started, I have a job now, I play rugby now, I also have an internship doing research in public policy, and I am a disgusting individual so yeah there's that.
> 
> Also, I'm a human disaster.
> 
> Also, also, let me know in the comments which you prefer, long and inconsistent waits for a longer chapter, or short, consistent waits for shorter chapters?


	10. Chapter 10

Lexa had worn a path in the dirt in her tent before midday had arrived. When it was finally time for her to stop her pacing and to settle down, she moved her war table a foot over to cover the trail, she wouldn’t want the Skaikru to think she was nervous. It only took her a few minutes to apply her war paint and settle onto her throne. Indra entered the tent, mood sour as per usual, and Anya lounged in the back, out of the way.  


There were scouts posted throughout the woods of course, and they had already reported Skaikru scouts as well, which meant that Lexa was dealing with a group of very intelligent people. These were the descendants of Pramheda’s original people, of course. Lexa knew to be wary of them.  


Finally, just as Lexa was beginning to get bored and play with her knife tip, the leader of the Skaikru ducked into the tent.  


Lexa had to say, she wasn’t terribly impressed.  


The girl was perhaps a bit younger than herself, blonde hair tangled with grease and dirt, blue eyes that sort of glowed beneath the sheen of sweat and filth on her skin. She wore threadbare, old-world clothes that looked suspiciously like the clothes the Maunonkru wore.  


The girl’s eyes widened just slightly at seeing Lexa on her throne, but Lexa paid her surprise no mind. “You’re the one who’s invaded my people’s territory and driven out the game for miles.”  


The girl seemed to flicker into a nearly entirely different personality as she straightened and her eyes sharpened on Lexa’s. “You’re the one who’s been killing my people off one by one.”  


Lexa would smile if it weren’t so wholly inappropriate. “It’s to my understanding that your people have been trying to reach the mountain. It’s in our best interest to prevent that. I’m sure you understand.”  


The girl ground her teeth. “Mount Weather has supplies that we could use-“  


“Mount Weather is filled with ripa and monsters.” Lexa snapped. “What is your loyalty to them?”  


The girl blinked. “There are people in Mount Weather? We were told no one made it to the bunker when the bombs went off.”  


Lexa stuck her knife into her throne, tip down. “Don’t lie to me.” She stood and stalked closer to the blonde. “Mount Weather has been terrorizing my people for generations. Everyone in every clan for miles knows of this.” She stopped just before her. Lexa took some petty pride in being an inch or so taller than her. It was the little things that gave Lexa the unconscious advantage. “Are you allies of the Maunon or not?”  


The girl furrowed her brows. “No. We believed it to be uninhabited.”  


Lexa turned from her and strolled to the war table. “Sit, Clarke, is it?”  


Clarke nodded, confusion still evident in her face. “Yes,”  


Lexa remained standing until Clarke took her seat across from her. “You may call me Commander Lexa.” She paused a moment when Clarke gave her a hesitant nod to continue. “I am the leader of the twelve clans. Under my reign, I have joined all twelve clans into a powerful alliance. The arrival of your people threatens the peace I have fought for all my life.”  


Clarke paled. The girl needed to know that Lexa would eliminate any and all threats to her people. “We’re a group of children-“  


“Hardly.” Lexa interrupted her, voice steely. “My scouts report your people to be largely capable of taking care of yourselves.” Lexa paused to allow the silence to settle around them. “You have scared the game away from this area for several miles, and during your fall, part of TonDC was razed to the ground. This cannot go unavenged. That’s before we even address the matter of Indra’s warrior Lincoln. Capturing and holding my people hostage is an act of war.”  


Clarke narrowed her eyes and Lexa could practically see the whirring of her mind as she worked through her situation. “The game will come back.” Clarke started. “Once we’ve learned how to keep from scaring it away. We can rebuild this town you talked about, and Lincoln was returned unhurt, after we captured him following the near fatal stabbing of one of our people.”  


“Then there’s the matter of the Maunon.” Lexa reminded her.  


“The Mountain, as I’ve said, was not something we knew of. Our information was limited, before we came to the ground we didn’t know anyone existed, let alone people holed up in a bunker.”  


Lexa leaned back, crossing her arms. She tilted her head to better study the girl before her. “So it’s true.” She murmured. “Indra, Anya, out.” She commanded.  


Anya grunted her disapproval, but moved to leave anyway. Indra, on the other hand, stubbornly held her ground. “Heda-“  


“Out,” Lexa snapped. “This does not involve you. Reparations will be negotiated later.”  


Indra snarled, and followed Anya out of the tent. Lexa could see Clarke making a conscious effort not to squirm. Though her discomfort was obvious to Lexa, she had to give the girl credit for knowing better than to show her weakness so clearly. They were alone now.  


“My scouts told me you fell from the sky. I wasn’t sure if I should believe them.”  


Clarke cleared her throat. “There were people in space when the bombs went off. So they combined the space stations to make one ship for everyone to live in. We survived for a hundred years up there. My people are the test subjects, to see if the ground is survivable.”  


“And I’m assuming that the ground is, in fact, survivable.”  


“Assuming our people can negotiate a truce, then yes.”  


“So there are more of you coming?” Lexa’s stare never wavered.  


“Yes,”  


“I don’t understand how you could live in the sky,” Lexa began. “But that’s not for me to ponder. What do you know of Becca and the origins of Polis?”  


Clarke blinked. “Nothing,”  


Lexa continued to stare. “This is important, Clarke. What do you know of Alie? Becca?”  


“I don’t know those women.” Clarke shook her head. “Maybe Jaha or the Counsel could help you-“  


“You mean to say you’re not the leader of your people?”  


“Of the people on the ground, sure-“  


They were cut off by screams and gunfire.  


“Jok!” Lexa stood, drawing a sword from behind her and pointed the blade at Clarke’s throat. “Yu natrona!”  


Clarke yelped, stumbling backwards away from the blade. “I didn’t-“  


Gunfire crackled as the screams lessened, and then a small, handheld object bounced into the tent, letting out bright red gas. “Maunon!” Lexa yelped scrambling away from the object and grabbing the blade from her throne, brandishing both weapons now at the tent flap instead of at Clarke.  


“What is going-“ Clarke was cut off by a bout of dizziness that had her falling to her knees. Through the blur of the spinning room, Clarke could see Lexa join her on the ground with first one knee, and then the other, before she finally succumbed to the gas and fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay quicker update than normal, but I finished an exam yesterday and decided to give myself the day off. Anyway, the consensus on the update schedule was pretty evenly mixed, though it seemed the slight majority preferred long chapters. So unless there are cases like the last couple of chapters where it is better to just leave the cliffhanger at an earlier place in the story, then I'll keep the updates longer but infrequent. As for the actual content of the story, literally none of this was planned until it happened lol so like. I don't know what's going to happen in the Mountain but I guarantee it's probably gonna suck for Lexa like my poor little bean I'm sorry.
> 
>  
> 
> Except I'm really not that sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Call the Vatican, there's been a miracle, I updated.

Clarke was ashamed to admit that she panicked upon waking up to a sterile white room. Had everything that happened in the last week been some awful isolation-born hallucination? Had she done something to harm herself and that’s why she’s in the Ark hospital wing? The hum of the generators was back, the beeping of machines, and the whirring of the fans in the air filtration system.  


But when she squinted, there was a painting on the other wall, there were no paintings on the Ark. None colorful and bright and cheerful like this one. Clarke moved to her feet, disconnecting the needles in her arm, the fluid bags on the stand next to her were empty. They must not have checked on her recently and that’s why she was able to wake up. Clarke approached the painting, and the closer she got, the more detail she could see, and when she brought her hand up to run her fingertips along the careful brush strokes, she could feel the dried paint. This was a real painting, not a print she would see on the Ark if they felt an image worth the ink, but real paint. Her lips parted in wonder, and just as the pads of her fingers brushed along the river on the canvas, searing, roaring agony ripped through her every vein.  


She collapsed immediately.

 

Lexa was panicking. The pain had finally worn off, but now she couldn’t feel anything, couldn’t think straight. Her lungs were ripping themselves apart just trying to get enough air to survive and her every sense was taken over by an awful, overwhelming static.  


Lexa was panicking.  


She was chained up, not in a cage like the rest of her people, but standing, strapped to the wall. She could make out one of her scouts, tied upside down, draining like a hog before a feast. He swayed just slightly, but other than that, he was motionless, entirely unconscious.  


She thanked the gods for that small mercy. He would not have to witness his own humiliation.  


She had been awake when they took her in, the gas had made her drowsy, but it had not knocked her out entirely, much to the shock of the Maunon Jokas. Lexa couldn’t even muster the energy to spit at them, but she was painfully awake for what they called “processing.” And after her processing, they had stuck a needle into her arm, shocked at the pitch black blood they removed from her veins. The doctors swarmed her, prodding and poking and taking “samples.” In the end, they decided they couldn’t risk mixing her with the others. She would be separated, forced to watch the massacre and humiliation of the people she swore to serve. Forced to watch as their hope drained from their eyes at seeing their all-powerful leader at full mercy of the evil Maunon dwellers.  


But she couldn’t even fully process what had happened. The gas hadn’t fully affected her, but the liquids they injected into her body were painful and they certainly rendered her useless.  


Her mind was starting to clear now, though. And her heart, still racing, could be felt again. Slowly, slowly, she lifted her chin from her chest to look up at the room she now presided. All of the warriors in the rows and stacks of cages around her were lethargic, some twitched and cried in their sleep, others stared around the room with distrust and fear evident on their faces, and others simply watched her, death weighed heavy on their minds. Lexa took in their appearances, everything that had made them strong was stripped from them. Their war paint scrubbed, clothes stripped and replaced with foreign, white undergarments that did little to preserve their humanity. These were hogs awaiting slaughter. Not prisoners of war.  


Lexa, as her blood slowly sifted the poisons from her body, gnashed her teeth, struggling against her binds. Logically she knew there was no use, but she needed to make a show of it. Bring her warriors’ attention to her.  


Dozens of sets of eyes rested on her now, they shone with hopelessness and grief and misery, but now she could instill some spirit into them. “You are Trikru.” She spat at them, allowing them to mistake her fear for fury. “Yu ste yuj. Oso na frag em op. The Trikru cannot be defeated.”  


They blinked owlishly at her, shocked at their leader for suggesting, even as they stood behind cages that they had any chance.  


“Jus drein jus daun.” Lexa snarled.  


The chant began weakly. But that’s all they needed. Soon the cages were rattling with the combined, albeit weak, force of every captured gona inside. They were shouting now, screaming and howling like the animals the Maunon treated them as. Lexa couldn’t have been prouder.  


But then the Maunon guards entered, they did not treat the warriors with attention, instead they marched forward, guns clinking to their armor, and removed Lexa from her position on the wall. She fought, kicked, bit, and scratched. She spat in their eyes and snarled, but they evidently had orders not to harm her, because she was dragged from the room and out of sight of her gona.

 

It took all of ten minutes for Clarke to escape her room, take a nurse hostage, and find herself face to face with Dante Wallace. He was charming, calming, and most of all, logical. He told her about how they were in Mount Weather, that they had survived all this time, all the while defending themselves from the savages trying to take their supplies and kill their families.  


Clarke was suspicious. She released the nurse, she had no intention of hurting the girl to begin with, why would she? And Dante himself escorted her to the hospital wing. Maya, the nurse, separated to be given attention for her minor surface injuries and Clarke was sat down to be examined.  


Dante offered her a home, fresh, outdated clothes, and a warm meal. Then, he left her to dress herself and find her way to the dining room, completely unguarded, as if he trusted her not to attack.  


While the halls and hospital reminded her of the Ark, the dining room was lavish in all the ways she imagined life before the bombs was. There were chandeliers and music, the clinking of china and silverware, people murmuring and laughing, art surrounded them and comfortable, cushiony chairs engulfed every person in the room as they sat down to eat. A banquet laid out on a table with a fancy table cloth, and Clarke had to wonder how they managed to afford so much unrationed food in a closed system the way Lexa suggested they were in.  


Lexa.  


Clarke glanced about the dining room, and she found several of her friends milling about. Monty and Miller gave her tight-lipped smiles, they were uncomfortable, but happy. And there was Harper and Monroe and several others from her scouting group. But no Grounders. She supposed that made sense, since they considered the Grounders to be savages, but where did they take Lexa?  


She needed to know. The fate of the Arkers depends on it. If they come down just after the death of the Grounder’s Commander, they would be slaughtered like pigs.

 

Lexa rubbed at her wrists and temples, thankful for the dark room, light would only make her migraine worse. But at the same time, the unknown struck fear through her.  


Voices outside of her room straightened her spine as if Anya herself had struck the back of her head and hissed at her to pay attention.  


The voices weren’t intelligible until they entered, flooding light through the doorway. There was a flick of a wrist and light filled the room, revealing Lexa huddled in the corner, small as possible and feral in the eyes. Three people entered and stood around her, somewhat defensively. Prepared for Lexa to strike out and attack, but more than capable of intimidating her.  


“I’m Dante Wallace.” The eldest man introduced himself. He had white hair and crinkles around his eyes. His smile was too manufactured for Lexa’s taste. His smooth voice was meant to be soothing, but Lexa knew to be wary of these people. She knew what manipulation looked like. “This is my son, Cage.”  


Cage’s smile was very, very real. His eyes beady and narrow, Lexa could see some of the resemblance between father and son, but this man hadn’t learned to hide his malice with kindness just yet. This man would be her torturer.  


“And this is Doctor Tsing.” Dante Wallace gestured to the third person and only woman. She wore a white lab coat and a clinical, calculating glare as she eyed Lexa up and down, over and over again. “Don’t bother pretending you do not know English. We’ve talked to your more civilized friends. The ones we captured you with. Clearly you have been able to communicate with them, otherwise they’d be dead.”  


Dante smiled, and it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re the, what do they call it? ‘Heda’ if I’m not mistaken. What does that mean? Queen, leader? Or do they call you God because of that strange blood of yours?”  


Lexa slowly moved, so as not to startle Cage, one hand on his gun at his belt. She sat up, and then she stood, and then she squared her shoulders, lifted her chin and glared him down the way she did the last she saw of Nia. “I am the Commander of the Coalition. With the capture of generations of my people, you have invoked a declaration of war by all twelve allied clans. Your capture of me has only ensured the razing of your sanctuary. Bushhada! The Coalition cannot be defeated. Surrender and accept your slaughter or die humiliated and cornered.”  


Cage snorted. “You’re threatening us? You’re the one backed into a corner hiding like a little girl.”  


“Cage-“  


“I die with honor!” Lexa snarled. “I speak for thousands of people, for generations past and generations to come. I accept my death. But you will burn.”  


Cage rolled his eyes. Dante stepped forward. “You do not have to die. Call off your people, submit to us, and you may have your life.”  


“Never.” Lexa snarled, deliberately pronouncing each syllable, her rage was tangible. And they would feel the force of every ounce of it.  


Dante clicked his tongue and sighed. “That’s a shame. Well, Dr. Tsing. Find out what you can, she may be important.”

 

Anya followed the loud girl, the one Clarke had called Raven, through the brush away from the attack site. The moment the crack of bullets sounded through the forest, the girl had taken off, and it took very little effort for Anya to follow her. But when they saw the true fire fight, the ones between the Trikru and Skaikru against the Maunon, Anya’s blood ran cold. Raven stopped short, pulling her gun from her waistband and taking aim, only to halt the moment an ally stepped into her line of sight.  


The Maunon, after securing two Skaikru scouts with two darts, whipped around. Anya lunged, tackling Raven to the ground and out of sight.  


Raven struggled only for a moment, but once the Maunon had left, Anya was up off the girl and rushing back to the tent she had abandoned Lexa in.  


She was silent, but the Skaion following her certainly was not, and when they came upon the shredded tent, empty, missing both of their leaders and the empty cartridges of gas grenades, bullet shells, and the Commander’s weapons, tossed unceremoniously to the ground, Anya could barely hold in her anguish.  


Anya had been sixteen when an eight-year-old with a penchant for getting into trouble and being unbearably stubborn had been shoved into her hands. It was an honor to mentor a Natblida, and just as much a responsibility. But Anya had more than proven her ability in battle. She had single-handedly saved an entire troupe of Trikru warriors after the sudden death of her Fos. She took charge and changed the entire battlefield, won an unwinnable fight. And her reward was a snotty nosed brat.  


But that brat was smart, and unfortunately for Anya, knew she was smart. And Anya always had a soft spot for smart kids that couldn’t back down from a fight even if they tried.  


Lexa was a pain in the ass but she was hers.  


Anya would be ashamed to admit that she forgot entirely about the presence of the girl behind her, she fell to her knees, lifting the sword from the ground and sobbing. She bowed her head, pressing the flat of the blade to her forehead, allowing the coolness of the blade to calm her, to slice through the fog of grief. Her Lexa would almost certainly be killed.  


Her sobs quietened, leaving her shivering and shaking, clutching the sword to her forehead and bowing out of respect to not only her Commander, but to the seken she raised into a strong warrior.  


“What do we do?” The voice was quiet, soft even. As if expecting anger or violence.  


Anya clutched the sword tightly, lifting her head to look at the sky, bringing the flat of the blade to her chest. “There is no ‘we’.”  


“The hell do you mean?” Raven snarled. “Clearly both of us were attacked. It certainly wasn’t us. Clarke and Lexa-“  


“Are certainly dead. If not now, then they will be by tomorrow morning.” Anya murmured to the sky. “The Maunon has done this to us for generations. There is no hope for any of those captured. We’ve escaped with our lives out of luck. Whether good or bad luck is up to your interpretation.”  


“You’re not going to kill yourself are you? That’d look really bad on us.”  


Anya stood. “Why are you still here?”  


“You saved my life, might as well return the favor. Besides, these Maunon assholes kinda kidnapped our princess.” Raven scoffed. “If I return and tell the hundred that we not only have no deal but our leaders were kidnapped by another breed of Grounders, it’s only going to go downhill from there.” Anya watched the smaller, cocky girl as she glared off to the side, eyebrows furrowing. “Plus, my asshole boyfriend broke up with me because of some fever dream and frankly I’m going to kill the bastard myself if I go back right now.”  


“That would be foolish and a waste of time.” Anya brushed her off, marching toward the wreckage of the tent and scavenging for what she could. “Your people need labor, killing a set of hands for petty revenge will only waste blood.”  


“Gee you make it sound like some sort of moral dilemma.” The girl drawled, moving to help her. “I’m touched.”  


Anya shrugged. She did not care for this conversation. Not when her strisis was dead. “Your people have arrived at a turbulent time. We must move the Coalition to take commands from a new Commander, Azgeda will almost certainly invade now, and the Maunon have gained tremendous power now that they have her.”  


“Why not save the Commander? Seems like that’d solve just about all of those problems there.”  


Anya scoffed. “The Maunon is impenetrable.”  


Raven rolled her eyes. “You should see what I can do with an ounce of gun powder and paperclip.”  


Anya furrowed her brows. “I don’t know what that means.”  


Raven grinned. “You’ll see. C’mon, Xena, let’s see what we have to work with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. I do a lot of apologizing in these notes, but damn am I sorry. Anyway, rugby season is over for the next couple of months and my classes are going to start wrapping up in the next 3-4 weeks which means after finals I can do a shit ton of writing! :D  
> Also, please shower me with praise I feed off of strangers' approval.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ho ho holy shit my dudes

Clarke managed an entire day before her curiosity spurred her into action. She twitched every twenty minutes from soulmate pains, which was annoying and certainly contributed to her irritability, but it made her stand out. Dante watched her closely, his hawkish gaze following her everywhere she went. Finally, Clarke decided that she needed help.  


“Monty, I’m telling you, something isn’t right here.”  


“Look, Clarke, I know that’s what it seems like, but they’re taking care of us. They’re feeding us and keeping us safe from the grounders. They said they were going to pick up the others back at camp tomorrow. And I bet we can use their radios to contact the Ark and direct a drop nearby so that we can protect them from here.” Monty reasoned. “They’re more like us than the other grounders, it’d be an easier transition to ground living if we started here.”  


Clarke furrowed her brows. “Something’s not right though. Why didn’t they leave the mountain a century ago?”  


“Why didn’t we come to Earth a century ago? I was talking to Maya, and she says the air is poisonous to them because of the radiation.” Monty shook his head, just as troubled as Clarke but for very different reasons. “But I think that’s unlikely, if they lived in a low radiation environment like us, then we should be incapable of living outside as they are. I think it’s a genetic mutation that only turns on when exposed to something in the air outside, an isotope of some sort maybe? I’m no biology expert. But the filters probably filter it out. It’s less an evolutionary thing and more like an allergy or intolerance.”  


Clarke ignored Monty’s babbling. “Monty, I don’t care what the scientific reason behind their radiation poisoning is, I care about what they’re doing to the other grounders and what they plan on doing to us. Lexa mentioned that they had been kidnapping her people for generations, but there are no grounders here. Where are they going? What are they doing with them?”  


Monty squirmed. “What do we do? I don’t think they’ll let us leave if we just ask nicely. Dante is-“  


“Not who he says he is.” Clarke finished for him. “He’s sly. We’ll figure out what we do next as soon as I find Lexa.”  


“And how are you going to do that?”  


“Miller was a thief wasn’t he?”

 

Bellamy paced through the dropship like a panther stuck in a cage, and the fact that his sister had gone missing was the sharp stick poking his face through the bars.  


“Would you calm down already? You’re making me anxious.” Murphy snarled from where he was perched on a metal ledge near the ladder leading up to the upper decks. “So she’s getting some grounder ass, let her be. What was your little mantra? Whatever the fuck we want? My ass.”  


Bellamy refused to respond until he heard the clambering of boots on metal. “News from the Ark, Bell.” Wells sighed. “I talked to my father, he’s alive and healing. If we manage a truce with the grounders, he’ll pardon you, if you can’t get that, he wants you dead. I tried to reason with him-“  


“He puts the law above anything else.” Bellamy crouched and placed his head in his hands. “I figured.”  


Wells crossed his arms. “Anyway, there’s more. They want to come down ASAP, so they’re planning on coming down during their next turn, which will be tomorrow night. Diana Sydney made a power grab, tried to take a dropship down immediately and blew the whole system, killed a lot of people, mostly working station.” He paused for Bellamy’s sharp intake of breath. “Any word on Octavia? Clarke?”  


Bellamy shook his head. “Nothing. Not a word.”  


“Bellamy! Wells!”  


Bellamy looked up from his spot. Wells turned his head disinterestedly. “What is it, John?”  


John Mbege, one of Murphy’s friends. He wasn’t bad, from what Bellamy knew, but frankly he wasn’t paying much attention. He was tall and pale, brown hair growing a little shaggy, but he looked unnaturally nervous. “You need to come see this, there’s a guy in a hazmat- they’ve got guns and like darts and stuff. He says he wants to speak with Bellamy. He knew your name. He knew MY name.”  


Bellamy jumped up, without bothering to wait for Wells, he marched from the drop ship.  


Bellamy was met with dozens of men in hazmat suits, guns pointed to the ground, but without a doubt ready to be fired. A few were poised in the back with no weapons to be seen. Bellamy’s guards, the one’s stationed at the wall, had all been disarmed. They fidgeted and twitched, looking for the safety of the weapon.  


One of the suits stepped forward, he held no gun, but he was clearly in charge. He reached a hand out to Bellamy to shake. “Bellamy Blake is it? Pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Carl Emerson, we’re from Mount Weather. We’ve been watching, and we offer you and your people guaranteed protection against the savages that have been killing your people. We’ve already liberated your people from the possession of the Commander: Clarke Griffin, Monty Green, Zoe Monroe, Harper McIntyre, Octavia Blake, among others. All of them are safe inside the mountain. There is room for all of us, including those left on the Ark.”  


Bellamy tilted his head suspiciously. “Octavia? She’s inside Mount Weather?”  


Emerson smiled behind his mask. “She is, unfortunately we couldn’t bring her here with us, she’s still being decontaminated. Those of us in Mount Weather are incapable of withstanding the radiation that you can. So you’ll forgive us for taking extra precautions.”  


Bellamy scowled. “What’s in it for you? Nobody gives anything for free.”  


“That’ll be negotiated by our president, Dante Wallace.” Emerson answered smoothly. “But for now, we’ll escort you to Mount Weather, where you’ll be decontaminated. We’ll have our doctors tend to each of you to ensure your health and any injuries are taken care of. Mr. Green is currently working with some of our computer specialists to contact the Ark, Ms. Griffin is aiding in getting the rest of your people settled in. So Bellamy, come join us. We can protect you.”  


“And Octavia is with you?” Bellamy stepped forward curiously. “I thought she had run off to find her soulmate in one of the Grounder villages.”  


“These grounders pay little attention to soulmates. The man turned on her, tried to take her hostage for use in his village. A leg up. We liberated her and she’s now safe and sound in Mount Weather. She and Clarke were happy to see each other.”  


“We should go.” Wells spoke up from just behind Bellamy. “If Clarke is there then negotiations fell through. They’ll be here to kill us all soon if we don’t go with them.”  


Bellamy hesitated, before slowly nodding. “Right. Pack your things!” He called to the delinquents surrounding him. “We’re leaving for Mount Weather in an hour.”  


Emerson grinned. “Perfect. “C’mon boys help them out, we’ll escort you all in groups. Easier to protect a dozen at a time rather than all of you.”  


Emerson marched off to talk with some of his men and Bellamy turned back to Wells. “Something feels off. Saviors don’t just show up like this. Not on the ground.” Wells murmured.  


“They didn’t on the Ark either.” Bellamy grumbled.  


Wells rolled his eyes. “So, what’s the catch?”  


Bellamy shrugged. “Whatever it is, we’ll find out soon enough. But if Clarke didn’t manage to negotiate a truce, then we’re screwed anyway.”  


Wells nodded slowly and turned away, leaving Bellamy to watch the suited men suspiciously.

 

“She seems to have a higher pain tolerance, faster reflexes, and a faster immunological reaction.” The voices floated around her as Lexa stared determinedly at the lights in her eyes. She would give them no reaction, no satisfaction. “It’s incredible how fast her system reacts to outside substances. It’s like her body was built to keep her alive.”  


“And the black color?”  


“My guess is that there’s something preventing the hemoglobin in her blood to bond with the oxygen. Makes it confusing as to how she’s capable of distributing oxygen to the cells in her body. I can’t go down every possible path on my own, I need more scientists.”  


“This is the best you’ve got, Tsing. You know it. My father doesn’t want the public to be reminded of the Outsiders any more than necessary. The more they think about it the more likely dissidents will get frustrated and revolt. Revolution will get us killed.” Cage reminded as he ran a cold finger down the length of Lexa’s bicep tattoo. She wanted to bite the damn thing off, but she was strapped to the table.  


“I want to give her a CAT.”  


“We’ll arrange for the lab to be vacant for you. What else do you know?”  


“It just doesn’t behave the way blood is supposed to. I don’t understand why she’s different. Or how it happened.” Tsing declared, Lexa could hear the shuffling of papers and the scuffing of her shoes on the tile floors. “There’s so many unanswered questions with her biology that I just have to look at everything. It’s fascinating. You’ve brought me one hell of an experiment Cage.”  


There was a soft chuckle. “I aim to please. Once you’re done studying her, start looking at interactions with our blood. Maybe she’s the secret to a permanent cure. Maybe we’re the generation to leave the bunker.”  


“Maybe,” Tsing was doubtful. “That’s not quite how biology works, but perhaps I can make a therapy treatment using her blood to combat the radiation intolerance.”  


“Perfect. I’ll keep my father off of your back. Do whatever you think is necessary, aside from killing her.”  


“Yes sir.”  


“You, my dear,” Cage pinched Lexa’s cheek with calloused fingers. “Are beautiful.”  


Lexa clinched her fists tight enough to draw blood. This man had long since earned himself a painful death.

 

Clarke wasn’t surprised when Wells and Bellamy appeared inside the bunker a few days later. But what did surprise her was how entirely voluntary everyone had entered the mountain. There was a hiccup when Bellamy found out that Octavia was, in fact, not in Mount Weather, but Emerson had been given a stern warning and Dante promised to find her immediately.  


“Clarke,” Wells voice was all too welcome here. “I don’t like it here. It’s not right.”  


Clarke looked up into the eyes of her former best friend. “I don’t either. There’s got to be a catch.”  


Bellamy ducked into the dorms just then, glancing around, nodding at the greetings from the other children before his eyes landed on Clarke and Wells. “Guys, Dante wants to talk to us. It’s about our stay here.”  


Wells didn’t hesitate to follow after him, which was strange, but Clarke supposed Wells spent more time with Bellamy than she did. He’d know him better.  


The guard sent to summon them led the three of them down the twisting halls of Mount Weather without comment. Clarke, flanked by both boys, didn’t say a word, but each step brought waves of dread washing over her and settling in a knot at the base of her stomach. That morning she had woken to pinpricks up and down both forearms and the pounding in the base of her skull that had lasted since she got there. Her muscles were unbelievably sore; her soulmate was having a rough day.  


“Welcome, Clarke, Bellamy, Wells. Wonderful to see your people are settling in well. Once we’ve come to a conclusion at this meeting and we’ve cleared more space we’ll start integrating your people further into the bunker. You’ll forgive us, we weren’t exactly prepared for a hundred new beds to be made.” Dante smiled, running a hand along a sword on his desk, gesturing towards three chairs set before it. “Please, have a seat, there’ll be tea ready in a few minutes. Negotiations always begin with hospitality.”  


Clarke was the last to sit down, once again in the middle. She subtly moved her chair closer to the desk, she needed to take charge, now, or Bellamy would do something dangerous. “So, you’re preparing for a long term stay then? Why?”  


Dante’s smile never faltered. “You see, Clarke. You’d make an excellent chief of police I think. Interrogations are not about asking questions and getting the right answers, but about asking the right questions and accepting nothing but answers. I’m sure Maya told you about our inability to go outside. It’s an inconvenience at best, and until the radiation levels go down, we will never escape this bunker. What once was a savior is now a prison.” Dante knitted his fingers together and leaned forward, making eye contact with Clarke. “My job is to lead and protect my people. You three know a lot about that. But one of the things I need to worry about, that I’m sure you haven’t thought about, is that I have to protect their futures too. It’s not just about the here and now, but about the next and the then. My people, just like yours, dream of feeling the rain on our faces and the breeze through our hair. We want to swim and climb trees and watch the sun rise and set along the horizon. We’ve been denied that for generations because of the radiation. The end goal is to leave Mount Weather. And I think, after a few generations of integration between your people and mine, we will have a mixed enough gene pool to survive outside as well. Of course, there are many other advantages. Your people can go outside, which means we can greatly expand our outdoors military beyond just what suits we have available. Outdoor farms and filters and resource gathering means we can expand within the bunker as well. Our population is, albeit slowly, beginning to reach an unsustainable limit, and by welcoming your people I’m pushing those boundaries, but once everything is secured, that population limit will be impossible to reach before my people have developed the biological capacity to go outside. Your people have far more advanced technology and STEM knowledge. All of this, all of this, is a huge advantage for everyone involved.”  


Clarke could see Bellamy and Wells make eye contact behind her from the corner of her eyes. “And what about the Grounders?”  


“You’ll be protected from them.”  


“No,” Clarke stopped, rolling her eyes. “I’m talking about what happened to them. I was talking to Lexa before you came in and ‘rescued’ us. They hate you, say that you’ve been terrorizing them for generations. What have you been doing to them? Where did Lexa go and what happened to the rest in the negotiations site?’  


Dante sighed, smile falling, replaced with exaggerated grief. “I didn’t want to go over this immediately. But it’s how we survive here. Everyone in the bunker knows, and kids are told about it when they come of age. I suppose, if you’re to live here, it’s your right to know as well. Even though you’ll never have to participate.”  


Dante heaved another sigh. “It’s a great source of shame for us, but we do what we must to survive. You understand. You’ve done things you’re not proud of too, haven’t you? Torturing that grounder and all.” Dante paused again. “The filters clean out most of the radiation, but not all. We’ve found that with frequent blood transfusions with the grounders we are able to survive much longer and heal the beginning stages of radiation poisoning. Of course, there comes a point where not even all of the blood in our stores can save our people, but usually we get to them before that happens.”  


Clarke stared in open mouthed horror. “You’re kidnapping them and draining them of their blood.”  


Dante met her outrage with calm silence.  


“Aren’t you?”  


Dante nodded once. “Again, this is very shameful for us, and we had many people outright refuse treatment, and they died because of their stubbornness. The outsiders, they feel no pain. We sedate them and withdraw only as much blood as they can withstand losing. It’s all very humane, I swear to it.”  


Clarke stood. “No.”  


“Clarke, be reasonable.”  


“Listen to Bellamy, Clarke.” Dante’s voice was still friendly, but it took a warning edge to it that sent shivers down Clarke’s spine.  


“Absolutely not. You kidnap people and drain them of their blood for your own gain. The people out there hate you, because you take away their friends, rip apart their families, and kidnap their soulmates! They’re not as savage as you say they are!” Clarke snapped. “The Hundred will agree with me, this is wrong.”  


“Clarke-“  


“You can’t possibly be defending them, Wells.”  


Wells clenched his jaw. “I’m not. I couldn’t. But he’s right. We need this. Negotiations fell through-“  


“Is that what they’re telling you?” Clarke rounded on them. Looking between the two shocked boys and a dangerously calm Dante Wallace. “They were going fine until they showed up with dart guns and gas grenades!”  


“Clarke.” Dante ended her tirade immediately. “While you were in the tent they were preparing to ambush you. You didn’t see it, but my people did. It was a miracle we got there in time to save you. In fact, one of my people even reported that the Commander had pulled a blade on you. Yet you’re defending their incapability of civility?” Dante scoffed. “These people took evolution in reverse. They’re the base of what humanity was before the invention of the written word!”  


“Ironic that you rely on their blood to survive.” Clarke snarled. “You know, the Aztecs made violent and useless sacrifices too. Except their reasons had more scientific base.”  


Clarke stormed away from Dante’s desk. “Perhaps the grounders were right in calling you people monsters.”  


Clarke slammed the door behind her.

 

“Damn, they managed to get everyone out that quickly?” Raven gaped as she walked through the deserted camp surrounding the dropship. “Don’t get me wrong, our detour was for the best, but still…”  


Anya swung from her mount and motioned to the troupe behind her to do the same. “Search for anyone left behind.” She spoke in English for Raven’s benefit. It was clear the girl was uncomfortable surrounded by armed warriors talking around her in a language she didn’t understand. Anya didn’t blame her, but even she had to admit it was unusual for her to be so accommodating.  


Anya followed Raven, hand on the hilt of Lexa’s sword at her hip. “You know, three swords is a bit overkill don’t you think?”  


“Yu Skaikru are unobservant.”  


Raven scoffed. “You think I’m stupid?”  


Anya held back a smirk. “Those weren’t my exact words. But they will do.”  


“You and I both know that this wasn’t an ambush, then.”  


Anya managed to cover the stumble in her steps as she followed. “We do. I’m surprised you noticed.”  


“C’mon.” Raven matched Anya’s smirk. “Everything’s all orderly, everyone’s valuables are gone. I’m not talking about the stuff that’s useful, I mean like little trinkets and sentimental things. No bullet holes, we had guns remember? No grenade casings. No missed darts. The delinquents left voluntarily. Which is very not good.” Raven crossed her arms triumphantly.  


“You look happy about this turn of events.”  


Raven’s triumph melted into slumped shoulders and a worried frown. “If there’s an alliance between our people and this Mountain, then one, I’m dead. Two, they abandoned me. And three, things are going to get really ugly really fast.”  


Anya furrowed her brows. “Help us retrieve Heda, and I’ll personally assure your survival, Raven kom Skaikru.”  


“Is this a confession? You actually like me?” Raven smirked.  


Anya rolled her eyes. “You are less useless than your people.”  


Raven laughed. “That’s practically a proposal, by your standards.”  


Anya turned and marched away.  


They spent twenty minutes searching the camp and the surrounding foliage before screaming and kicking caught Raven and Anya’s attention. Three guards marched through the underbrush attempting to hold Octavia still as they brought her forward to their general. Lincoln followed calmly, with just one guard’s hand on his shoulder.  


“Octavia!” Raven jogged towards the other girl as she settled down and regained her footing.  


“Raven? You’re alive?” Octavia stepped forward. “What happened? Where is everybody?”  


“The Maunon took them.” Anya answered coldly. “The ripa want more of your tek.”  


Octavia gaped at the two as they gave her near identical, puzzling glares. As if they were struggling to work through a riddle, Raven hardly noticed at all, but perhaps she was mirroring Anya just a little. It helped to get someone to take you more seriously. It’s how she gained respect among the other mechanics and engineers on the Ark. “What’s the plan then?”  


Raven grinned. “You and I will get along swimmingly.”  


Anya shook her head, dismissing the strange Skaikru behavior. “We are moving to TonDC. We will be safer there with more warriors to protect us from further attacks. From there we can plan our extraction of the Commander.”  


“And our people.” Raven reminded.  


“Of course.” Anya conceded. “Raven, you needed your tek?”  


“Yeah, the radio should be upstairs. With that, we can contact the Ark and arrange their landing. With them, we’ll have even more mechanics and engineers to help us crack open the bunker. Especially since they can pull up the original blueprints. We’ll have detailed access to every twist and turn of that ant hill.”  


Octavia crossed her arms. “Barring any major renovations.”  


“Barring any major renovations, but since they can’t survive outside, something tells me they wouldn’t risk major changes.” Raven waved her off and jogged away towards the dropship. “Let me message the Ark and let them know what’s going on, and then we can remove the radio and get going!”  


When Raven returned, her excitement and interest had morphed into fear. “Anya, I need to talk to you.”  


“So speak.” She drawled, turning just slightly from her warriors.  


“No, it needs to be privately, this is too important for it to be overheard by some talkative warriors.” Raven snarled.  


Anya glared at Raven’s retreating back, hand returning to the hilt of Lexa’s sword as she followed. Once they reached the dropship Raven whirled around. “The Ark is coming down tonight, and they’re planning on joining the Maunon- Mountain. Mount Weather. The delinquents inside Mount Weather used their technology to send a signal up to the Ark. They’ve arranged for protection. They’re going to enter the mountain.” Raven cut Anya off before she could snarl her own violent response. “I have an inside man. Clarke’s mother, Abby Griffin. She’s a member of the council. Did some sketchy, illegal shit to get me here on the second dropship- what’s with the face? Whatever- my point is, she managed to talk her way back into Jaha’s good graces. I gave her a basic rundown of the situation and she’s going to do everything she can to stop this new alliance.”  


Anya crossed her arms. “And how do I know that you do not plan to turn on us?”  


“That’d be suicide.” Raven rolled her eyes.  


“It would be.” Anya watched her carefully. “Would you be able to turn on your own people should you be unable to talk them out of this alliance?”  


Raven raised her chin slightly. “Once they learn the truth they won’t keep the alliance.”  


“You don’t know that.”  


“I’ll make them. And if I can’t, Clarke will.”  


Anya furrowed her brows. “I believe you.”  


Raven nodded once. “Good. We have a lot to do. It’ll be impossible if we don’t trust each other.”  


Anya looked away, avoided eye contact. “I trust you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's a mess?  
> Anyway, yeah, longer than usual but I'm on a roll with this one so maybe I can get another update up in a couple of days? That'd be bomb as fuck but don't hold your breath.  
> So, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds. Jesus I cried so much the last few days. Star Wars was just, my whole childhood and then Carrie goes on and becomes this incredible activist for mental health and feminism. Like, yeah. As someone who is both a woman and closely related to someone with bipolar disorder, she meant a lot more to me than just General Princess Leia. She was incredibly talented and incredibly funny and loving. My heart goes to her daughter and brother, it's a real shame that she drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.
> 
> May the Force be with you.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on a roll!!! gotdamn!!!!

Clarke wasn’t sure where she was going until she reached the end of the hallway. There were no more turns to make. A closet door on the left, and a key card door to the right. Apparently the bedraggled woman she and Miller had “accidentally” accosted in the hallway was someone rather high up, because the key card let her in whatever door she needed. She was surprised it hadn’t been reported lost or stolen yet.  


Either way, there’s nothing left to lose, she already made herself an enemy of Dante Wallace, so she might as well find out everything she could. So she moved to the locked door and swiped the key.  


Three blinking red lights, a green light, and then the click of the lock. Clarke was in.  


Inside there wasn’t much to see. Some lab equipment, sterile, but scattered across the room as if the person who used it last was harried and scatterbrained. Usually only the hospital wing on the Ark was this carefully disorganized.  


Another door in the back looked interesting, so Clarke meandered over, stopping to take apart an IV stand. She may be up against guns and gas grenades, but at least she had something resembling a weapon.  


The door swung open soundlessly, but there was a slight shuffle from somewhere inside the room. Clarke held her bat at the ready and flipped the light switch.  


Clarke stopped short so quickly that her sneakers squeaked on the linoleum floors and her bat fell to the floor with an echoing clang. “Lexa?”  


The girl was stone faced, staring defiantly up at the lights, strapped to a metal cot without a mattress or blanket, cotton swabs taped up and down her forearms. She was nearly naked, plain white underclothes keeping her modest, but the tattoo on her bicep danced with the flexing of her muscles. She was strained, but not struggling.  


Clarke moved slowly and carefully as she stepped into view of the other girl. Lexa’s eyes glanced down and over Clarke’s healthier form, she said nothing. “Lexa, hold on, I’m going to cut you free.”  


Clarke ran back to the other room and threw open several drawers before finally finding a scalpel. She rushed back to the Commander’s side. Several minutes later, Lexa’s left foot was free, and another few minutes had her other foot flexing and popping as she moved her stiff joints.  


Another ten minutes and Clarke had cut through the last fibers holding back Lexa’s right hand. “There you-“  


She hadn’t so much as blinked before she was slammed to the ground, scalpel scattering across the floor and Lexa’s hands tight around her throat. “Yu natrona!” She snarled. “You lied to me!”  


The hands on her neck squeezed so tightly she felt bruises already begin to form, and black spots swarmed her vision. Lexa’s face blurred in and out of focus, but her breathing was heavy, far heavier than it should have been. Clarke desperately clawed at the hands choking her to death, drawing black blood and ripping the cotton swabs from her forearms to reveal needle punctures mottling her skin.  


Lexa stumbled backwards as if she had been knocked from her place straddling Clarke, breathing rapidly in a quickly developing panic attack. She rubbed and clawed at her own throat as Clarke gasped for breath and curled in on herself, cradling her stinging hands and wrists. “You-“  


“Jok!” Lexa was panicking. Absolutely panicking, Clarke could tell, and somehow, for some reason, it comforted her to see the stoic Commander losing her mind. But that was her only source of comfort because her hands were stinging too and that was not a coincidence. It couldn’t have been. Not when her forearms have been aching with pinpricks and not when her own chest was screaming with the need to breathe long after she’d had her fill of air, not when she could feel stinging marks running down her hands and wrists exactly where she’d scratched them on the other girl. “Jok!” Lexa yelped, still heaving, but not quite as badly as before. “Jok.” She whimpered before leaning against the cot she had once been strapped to. “Jok.”  


Clarke rolled to her stomach, pushing herself up to her hands and knees so that she could prop herself against the wall across from her. “I didn’t lie to you.” She whispered. That’s all she could manage, the older girl had nearly crushed her throat and no sound would come out above a hoarse mumble.  


“You said you were not friends with the Maunon.” Lexa bit back.  


Clarke shook her head. “We were captured too. We hadn’t made contact with them until they took us. We’re hostages too.”  


“Hostages? They’re not draining you of your blood!” Lexa could barely keep her voice below yelling. “My people are nothing but hogs to them!”  


“They want us for breeding stock!” Clarke hissed back. “They want to integrate us, force us to intermingle with them, to become their military, and their farmers. They want us to do to you what they’ve been doing to you, only faster, more frequently, more efficiently.”  


“Jok.”  


“We’re soulmates.”  


Lexa moved to her feet, unsteady but putting a brave front up. “Is that what you people call it? It doesn’t matter. My people need me.”  


“You can’t just walk out of here. You’re not bulletproof.”  


“Then what do you suggest?” Lexa raised her voice, whirling back around to glare at Clarke. “You cut the straps, now I either get my people and get out or we both die.”  


Clarke felt her heart rate spike dramatically considering the possibility. She only needed the small spark of adrenaline to send her mind whirring. “We get out of here now. We go through the way you came in. The hospital wing is probably the general area where they keep your people. If they don’t want to remind the citizens here about what’s going on, then they’ll have a way in and out that is out of sight back there.”  


“They see me at all and we die.”  


“Welcome to the club, Lexa.” Clarke hissed. “There’s a closet across the hall. Maybe it will have a change of clothes.”  


Clarke led the way as they moved from Lexa’s holding cell. Clarke stopped to grab her bat from the floor and Lexa collected whatever scalpels she could find. Three in total, Clarke had a feeling the girl could do incredible damage with just those three scalpels.  


Clarke checked down the hall before dragging Lexa through the closet a few feet away. “Ah! Perfect, scrub pants and a lab coat. This will do.”  


“It is easy to grab a hold of.” Lexa grumbled as she pulled the pants over her bruised and cut legs. “These make no sense in battle.”  


“They weren’t made for battle. They were made for research.”  


“All clothes should be ready for battle in a moment’s notice.” Lexa harped. “It is dangerous to be easily manipulated.”  


“Well, take it up with Dante.” Clarke grumbled as she rummaged about looking for anything else useful. “They usually start pricking you early in the morning. How often do they usually check on you?”  


Lexa shrugged. “Every few hours? After the first few days Tsing left me alone a majority of the time. I don’t know how long it has been.”  


“A couple of days.” Clarke answered, eyeing Lexa up and down. “That should be good enough. We’ll avoid as much contact as possible but those should keep you from looking immediately suspicious from a distance.”  


Lexa nodded. “You know the way?”  


“More or less.”  


“Jok,”

 

“The bunker has tunnels leading through and underneath. There’s a dam just here that powers their electricity.” Raven pointed towards a large shape on the hastily drawn map Lincoln had made based on the image transmitted at the last minute from the Ark before they lost communications for the final time. The Ark was due down in hours, and Anya had managed to get Gustus to send along orders to Titus to invoke Heda’s declaration of war. Hundreds of nearby troops would arrive soon to fight off any Maunonkru when they tried to swarm the wreckage. The plan isn’t to win over the Skaikru, but to do as much damage to the Maunon as possible. “First, if we can get to the dam and damage it, they lose their power. We should do this during our final strike. They’ll realize we know more about them than they thought the moment we go for their power source. Abby said they have a mutated gene that makes the air out here poisonous. If we shut off the air filters, every Mountain Man should get sick and die. I guarantee you they have backup generators that will keep them running until major repairs to the dam could be done. So we wait until our final attack for this. The big one.” Raven explained. “The bunker doors are meant to protect against any and all attempted, unauthorized entry. So there’s no point trying to attack it from there. The best we can try is the -what was the word?- Ripa entry. They have contact with the mountain somehow. Obviously they’ve made some sort of entry here in the back.” Raven ran a finger down the map following a tunnel trail going directly beneath the bunker. “My guess is there’s a door here that the Ripa come in and out of.”  


“Sha.” Anya murmured. “Lincoln, you know the tunnels best. You and I will go through and scout this entry. Octavia and Raven will stay here.”  


“My brother is in there, and I’m going wherever Lincoln is going.” Octavia argued.  


“This is war, girl.” Indra growled from beside Octavia. “Children do not belong on missions like this.”  


Lincoln shook his head. “It is best you stay. The Ripa are very dangerous. They will kill and eat you if you get caught by them.”  


“And that should comfort me how? You’re going down there!”  


Lincoln smiled. “I have been there many times, and I will have Anya. She is esteemed for her skill in a fight. I’ll be fine.”  


“Yeah, I’m not sure I like being left here either.” Raven furrowed her brows. “Besides, you won’t know what to look for.”  


“Lincoln can draw.”  


“There’s only so much a drawing can depict, Anya.” Raven retorted. “I need to feel the metal and see the bolts in the faults. You think I’m stupid but you don’t know jack shit about this bunker!”  


Indra lashed out, slapping the back of Raven’s head with an open hand. The thump echoed around the room, not that Anya heard much of it. It took quite a bit of self-restraint to hold back the wince and ignore the ache building in the back of her skull. “Enough, Indra. She’s no use with a concussion.”  


“Fuck you,” Raven groaned, rubbing the back of her head and glaring at Indra from the corners of her eyes.  


“You’re not coming with us.” Anya asserted, folding her arms and daring the younger girl to object.  


Object she does. “I’d like you to tell me how you know if a key card machine can be hacked or not. Tell me exactly where the chinks in a metal sheet are. Tell me how you can tell the difference between a stripped bolt from overuse and a stripped bolt from natural wear and tear. Tell me exactly how much gun powder it will take to blow a door without alerting our presence depending on the placement of the powder, the door, and all of the factors listed above. Exactly. You don’t know, but I do. So yeah, I’m going.”  


“Bants, everyone. Now.”  


Raven grinded her teeth so hard that Anya could feel the ache in her own jaw. After everyone had left, Anya let her frustration show. “You are foolish.”  


“And you’re an idiot.”  


“Those tunnels are dangerous and-“  


“Why do you give a shit?” Raven rolled her eyes. “Not a week ago you were plotting our complete extermination and now you’re trying to keep me safe?”  


Anya sneered. “Don’t think so highly of yourself. You’re useful because of your knowledge of tek. If you die, any chance of retrieving Lexa is gone. And our entire way of life is gone.”  


“No pressure.” Raven mumbled. “I can’t do what you’re keeping me alive for if I don’t take risks.”  


“There’s a difference between risk-taking and recklessness!” Anya burst out harshly. “Jok, I thought I was done having this conversation after Tris stopped picking fights. You act like a child!”  


“And you’re pretending to be the Commander!” Raven snarled. “Looks like we’re both disappointed huh?”  


Anya practically growled. “You are not going. It’s final.”  


“Great,” Raven smirked. “I’ll pack my bag. I’m going. I’ve decided.”  


Raven pranced away, ignoring Anya’s orders. “Jok!” Anya snarled, slamming a fist down on the table just over the dam circled on the map.  


That girl would be the death of her.

 

“Okay, go, go.” Clarke whispered, ushering Lexa across another hall. “This is the door to the hospital. Pretend to lead me to a bunk in the corner, I’ll tell you what to do once we get there.”  


Lexa rolled her eyes. “I know how to deceive people, Clarke.”  


“I’m sorry do you know proper hospital etiquette here in the Maunon? Didn’t think so.”  


“You’re insufferable.” Lexa griped, straightening her back and setting a hand between Clarke’s shoulder blades. “After you,”  


“Fuck you,”  


“You wouldn’t be the first.”  


They walked calmly across the floor. There were few nurses tending to unconscious patients with red IV’s in their arms, but none took any interest in them. They reached the furthest bunk and pulled the privacy curtain around them and stood facing each other, arms crossed and scowls marring their faces. “The next step in your grand master plan?” Lexa snarked.  


“Hold on.” Clarke muttered, moving to the edge of the curtain and peeking out. “We’re lucky as hell, Lexa. The tubes are leading over to this corner. If we do this right, we can sneak through to the other side of that wall and follow the blood to the source.”  


“How do we get to the other side of the wall?”  


Clarke craned her neck. “There’s a vent. Let’s go. The nurses are busy.”  


The two snuck through the curtain and towards the wall, purposefully keeping themselves flat against the wall and out of sight of the rest of the room, hidden by the curtain still pulled around the last cot. Slowly, carefully, Clarke pried the vent from the wall and ducked inside, waving Lexa along behind her.  


The vent was short, only a few feet long, and upon reaching the other side, Clarke’s jaw dropped. “Very good, Clarke kom Skaikru.” Lexa nodded once as she stepped forward into the room, unperturbed by the cages stacked four high with warriors, stripped and drugged, shadows of what they once were.  


Another warrior hung upside down, not three feet from the vent entrance, and Clarke gagged at the sight of the blood rushing from his body, into the tubes that ran from the room into the adjacent hospital wing. “They said it was humane.” She murmured weakly.  


Lexa glanced over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised. “And you believed them?”  


“Well, no. But still…”  


“Knowing the facts and seeing them in action are two different things, Clarke. It is something you must remember as a leader, whenever you make a decision, it may be necessary on paper, but in practice, it can be much worse.” Lexa wandered to the cage of a warrior she recognized, tugging on the lock. “How do we get them out?”  


Clarke looked around. “I don’t-“  


The lights went out, the locks on the doors clicked, and red strobe lights blinked, the screeching of an alarm blared over the loud speakers of the bunker. Lexa crouched, ready for battle. She looked out of place in her scrub pants and lab coat, but Clarke knew she was deadly.  


“We need to go.” Clarke marched towards her, past the cages. She grabbed Lexa’s bicep and hauled her up and towards a tube sticking up out of the corner of the room.  


“I’m not leaving my people.” Lexa yanked her arm from Clarke’s grasp. “I will not abandon them.”  


Clarke rolled her eyes. “You are the Commander. These gona are dispensible. That’s why you send them into battle to fight and die, but without you, there is no one to organize them and deploy the tactics that will allow everyone else to survive. Sacrifice them for the greater good.” Clarke hated herself for saying it, but it needed to be said.  


Lexa’s eyes burned through her skull. “No one is dispensible. These are my people and they look to me for protection and guidance. I will not leave them behind.”  


“You think this mountain can fall without you there to strategize?” Clarke argued. “Now let’s go!”  


Lexa turned her back, staring at the dozens of pairs of eyes, watching her pleadingly. “I will return for you. The Skaikru will be our saving grace and the key to the fall of the Maunon. Ai gona, ste yuj. Heda will not abandon you. Yu no gonplei ste odon. Jus drein jus daun!”  


She didn’t have to say it a second time. Like rabid animals they slammed against their cages, rattled the bars, hissing and screaming and repeating their mantra. Clarke hadn’t the slightest clue what it meant, but it was terrifying enough. As soon as Lexa joined her, they jumped down the passage, sliding into darkness with the echoes of dozens of angry warriors following them down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling good yo! This chapter was almost completely done last night, so it was a just little bit of typing to get it done today. CLEXA KNOW ABOUT EACH OTHER NOW YOOOOOOO  
> Also Anya knowwwsss toooooooo shit man. It's been an eventful few chapters. Next chapter is gonna be action packed so be prepared.  
> Happy New Years everybody!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insomnia sucks

Blades bared and ready to be bloodied, Anya waited in the bushes beside the entry to the stone mine. Raven twitching and jittery beside her. Lincoln had been gone for all of thirty seconds and the girl was already ready to implode. “If you do not sit still and relax, the ripa will find us.”  


“Gee sorry I’m not a fan of running into rabid, highly trained, cannibal assassins!”  


“They are not assassins.” Anya rolled her eyes. “They cannot be organized or controlled well enough to become assassins.”  


“That’s not the point.” Raven hissed back.  


“I told you not to come.”  


“I’m going.”  


“Then stop complaining and sit still.”  


“How can I?” Raven grumbled. “How are you so calm?”  


“A majority of these missions are waiting.” Anya murmured. “Fights rarely last very long at all. It’s waiting for the prime opportunity. Look, he’s back.”  


Lincoln emerged from the entrance to the tunnel and nodded for them to follow. “It is clear for a few turns. I can’t guarantee anything past the fifth turn.”  


“Brilliant.” Raven drawled. “Let’s go.”

 

Corpses.  


Clarke was lying in a pile of corpses.  


Holy shit.  


“Don’t move.” A voice whispered in her ear, shifting just slightly. Lexa had landed somewhat on top of her, and she could already feel the bruise forming across her thighs. “Ripa,”  


“What?”  


A hand covered her mouth, the only thing distinguishing Lexa’s hand from that of a corpse was her body warmth. “Warriors, taken by the Mountain and turned into monsters. They are cannibals.” She breathed. As Clarke’s eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see the outline of Lexa on her stomach, almost entirely atop Clarke. Her hand clenched tightly over Clarke’s mouth to keep her silent. “The alarm is agitating them.”  


Lexa’s hands smelled like decomposing flesh. Clarke tapped her wrist and Lexa moved her hand. “How will we get past them if they’re just going to eat us?” She hissed.  


“They prefer fresh bodies.”  


Clarke’s heart dropped and her stomach clenched as the cart of bodies wrenched out of place. A bulky figure in the corner of Clarke’s eye rolled them down the tracks, navigating the twisting tunnels easily.  


After a few minutes they stopped, the flickers of flames on the tunnel walls danced across the stone above them. Lexa slowly shifted, wincing at the shifting of the fabric between them and the bodies around them. Slowly, Lexa lifted herself and peeked over the edge of the cart. “They are arguing over who gets the red. Whatever that is. They’re distracted, but as soon as we run, they will give chase.” Lexa whispered, moving to the other side of the cart carefully. “We must be prepared to run. I cannot fight more than one or two without a weapon.”  


More than Clarke could, but she wouldn’t mention that. Slowly, rubbing the ache out of her thighs where Lexa had landed, earning an awkward grimace from the other girl, Clarke moved to crouch beside the Commander. “On three?”  


Lexa nodded. “One,” They positioned themselves to jump. Clarke frowned down at Lexa’s bare feet. “Two,” Clarke looked back over her shoulder towards the Ripa. Their argument was starting to get violent. “Three, go.”  


Lexa hopped over the edge rather gracefully, but Clarke barely made it over the edge without killing herself. They made quite a bit of noise, which effectively ended the Ripas argument.  


Clarke sprinted. Lexa stumbled and hissed frequently, and Clarke could feel the prickling in her feet. Clearly the tunnel was not free of sharp rocks and debris. “Clarke, keep going!” Lexa yelped as they rounded a corner. They had reached a fork and ripa were spilling from one end. “Go, I will distract them.”  


Clarke stumbled to a stop. “No, come on Lexa, let’s go. I’ll be killed by your scouts surrounding the Mountain if I don’t have you with me.”  


“Clarke, go.” Lexa growled, conjuring one of her scalpels from her pocket.  


“No!”  


Lexa whirled around, flinging the scalpel towards the ripa in the front of the rushing crowd. It hit its target, or so Clarke assumed, because the ripa tripped over himself. The scalpel protruded from his eye, and the ripa behind him tripped over him, some even kneeled to tear into his face.  


Lexa tripped again as she turned around to follow Clarke. But in the few seconds it took for them to argue, the ripa coming from the other direction had rounded behind them. “Jok.” Lexa snarled. 

“You should have left while you had the chance.”  


“Shut up.”  


Lexa was absolutely affronted by Clarke’s gall. And with a wince, Clarke remembered that she was, in fact, speaking to the Commander of the Grounders, evidently multiple clans of them. Lexa grabbed Clarke’s shoulder and shoved her to the side, straight into the tunnel wall. “Do not let them get behind me.” She ordered, handing Clarke a scalpel and wrenching her bat from her hand.  


Lexa whirled back around, baring her final scalpel and the makeshift club in either hand.  


The ripa approached like starving panthers, stalking their cornered prey. In a way, they were. The first ripa lunged at Lexa, only to be kicked away, at the same time that two ripa from either side grabbed Clarke.  


True to Lexa’s orders, she kicked one ripa in the groin, getting just enough of a pause for her to reach up and wrench the tiny blade through his carotid artery. Clarke was drenched in his blood before the other ripa yanked her away again. Just as Clarke ran the blade down his face from his eye to his chin, she heard a much louder battle cry than the incoherent snarls and growls of the ripa surrounding them.  


Two heads detached themselves from their respective shoulders with sickening thumps and there stood their savior, Anya. “Lexa?”  


“Anya, with me.” Lexa snapped, she had somehow disarmed a ripa in the time Clarke had been struggling, and now she wielded a dagger the length of her forearm. “Lincoln, hold the rear.”  


“Raven, down the other tunnel.” Anya barked, following Lexa’s battle orders without another thought.  


Clarke sighed in relief as another ripa was ripped entirely from her body by Lincoln. The ripa fell still when his skull hit a rock with a dull crack. Clarke noticed Anya toss Lexa a sword, before she was swept into battle once more, shielded heavily by Lincoln.  


“Hold position, Lincoln, clear to Raven.”  


“Sha, Heda.”  


“Heda, Maunon incoming.”  


“Jok!” Lexa screamed. “Just go! Run!”  


Clarke cut another ripa’s hand and made a run for it. “Damn, Clarke, been awhile yeah?” Raven huffed as Clarke reached her at the corner of the next twist of the tunnel. “Where’s Anya?” Clarke turned to watch the two grounders fight, side by side. They weaved between each other and beside each other as if they had been fighting side by side all their lives. Though, Clarke supposed, that was more than likely. A ripa managed to land a blow just across Anya’s face, but the woman quickly recovered and gutted the ripa with a single thrust of her sword. “Shit fuck.” Raven murmured. “Holy fuck I felt that, shit. That really fucking hurt.”  


Clarke furrowed her brows. “Worry about it later.”  


“Easy for you to say!”  


Finally, the three grounder warriors tore themselves from the battle, turned tail, and ran. Raven and Clarke didn’t hesitate to turn and sprint with them.  


Lexa was soundless as they ran, but Clarke could feel a few new aches and pains, which meant she had not made it unscathed from their scuffle with a dozen or so ripa. And Anya, evidently Raven’s soulmate, thumped along evenly, keeping pace with her Commander.  


Lincoln struggled just behind them. One of the ripa seemed to have hurt his leg, and Lincoln was tackled from behind by one of the fastest ripa. Lincoln let out an animalistic scream and thrashed with his blades, but soon enough he had disappeared entirely. Clarke slowed enough to call his name, but Lexa nearly tripped over her. “Go, Clarke, just go. He fought bravely.”  


They turned another corner just to find daylight staring back at them several yards ahead. “Fuck! Dam!” Raven yelped, skidding to a halt just at the edge of the tunnel.  


“Jump.” Anya growled, a tight grip on the mechanic’s bicep.  


“We can’t swim!” Clarke huffed between breaths.  


“Are you kidding?” Lexa snarled. “Now is not the time for jokes, Clarke.” Lexa ripped the sleeve from her lab coat and wrapped one end of it around her wrist and hand. “Skaikru,” Lexa grumbled. She grabbed Clarke’s wrist and began wrapping. Anya opted to push Raven off of the cliff, pausing to give Lexa a warning glance before following her down. After a second, Lexa was finished. “I will swim for you, now jump.”  


Clarke didn’t have much choice, because Lexa dragged her from the cliff with her.

 

Raven felt like a drowned rat. By pure dumb luck, she had managed to wash, coughing and spitting, on one of the banks of the river. She shivered uncontrollably, dripping water everywhere. “You’re lucky I haven’t rigged handheld radios yet.” She snapped as Anya trudged from the water distractedly.  


Anya nodded towards the other bank, where Clarke and Lexa were gathering themselves after their fall. “Heda!”  


Lexa perked up, shoulders sagging as soon as she saw them on the other side of the river. “Circle around! TonDC. The maunon will follow me so keep your distance!”  


“Take your time!” Anya shouted back. “They are expecting the Skaikru! Keep them distracted!” Lexa nodded once and nudged Clarke into the underbrush. “We will wait until the Maunon reach the river. We want them to follow us as well. Split the group.”  


“All of you are fucking crazy.” Raven responded, hunching over against the breeze.  


“There, I’m surprised they haven’t camouflaged their suits. They are arrogant.” Anya jogged away, expecting Raven to follow.  


“You should wrap that ankle when we get back.” Raven quipped, following her into the underbrush.  


“So you’ve figured it out?”  


“You knew?”  


“You Skaikru are not very observant, remember?” Anya snickered.  


“You’ve known long enough to come to terms. Fuck you.”  


Anya smirked, turning her head just to let Raven know of her amusement. “Come along, you’re noisy. The Maunon are following us.”  


Raven grunted, breaking into a jog for a few feet to catch up with her. They travelled in silence for several minutes before Raven couldn’t take it anymore. “I heard some of the warriors in TonDC mention that you were the Commander’s mentor. Is that true?”  


“Sha.”  


“How does that work? She outranks you.”  


“A student can very easily surpass their teacher if they are talented enough.” Anya shrugged. “Why?”  


“Well, we’re stuck with each other. Might as well get to know you.” Raven feigned disinterest.  


Anya raised an eyebrow, glancing towards Raven as she stepped over a fallen tree. “What do you care to know?”  


“How did you manage to train the Commander? What was it like? How does the mentorship thing work?”  


Anya sighed. “Lexa is a Natblida. I was selected to train one and she happened to be assigned to me.”  


“What?” Raven scoffed. “Pretend I’m an alien.” At Anya’s glare Raven grinned. “Okay, treat me like the alien I am. What?”  


“Lexa’s blood is dark, like a shadow at night. Natblida. Night Blood. Natblida are the only people capable of accepting the Flame. Eh, Heda’s spirit. When Heda dies the Flame is transferred from the previous Heda to the Natblida to survive the ascension.” Anya explained. “It is a great honor to mentor a Natblida. Circumstances caught the previous Heda’s attention, when I was younger.”  


“What happened?”  


“My Fos died, and so I took his place. There was a battle against the Broadleaf clan. They were withholding rightfully Trikru material in a tunnel system. When I took over, I found a way to win an unwinnable battle. Heda was impressed and I was honored with a Seken of my own. Lexa was the troublesome child of the litter. I was fresh from battle and new to Heda’s good graces, so I was given the difficult one. There were at least three more children that were predicted to perform best in the Ascension over Lexa. But I took her on and I forced her to behave.” Pride leaked into Anya’s voice, and Raven had to admit it was endearing. “Lexa was never trained to be a warrior, but a strategist, a Commander. She makes sacrifices, she isn’t one of them.”  


“Aw, you love her!” Raven needled. “That’s sweet.”  


Anya shrugged. “Of course I do.”  


“Well, hopefully they get to TonDC without any problems.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Talk about quick turnover amiright? I'm going to focus on OotS for a bop so don't expect another update for PM like, tomorrow or anything. I haven't been doing much sleeping lately so I've pretty much just been writing. Like I watched the sun set and then rise last night. It's nice for writing, not nice for my sanity. But what can you do ya feel? I'm on break, I can afford to lose all since of time and reality.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead.
> 
> yet.

When Clarke had stormed from the room, Bellamy knew they were in some serious shit. When an entire group of people offer you assistance while simultaneously taking you into their personal labrynth and shifting the guns in their hands, you don’t spit in their eyes. That’s just common sense. So when the door slammed shut, leaving Bellamy and Wells to talk to Dante and convince him not to kill them all, Bellamy’s stomach dropped.  


Wells kept an eye on him while they sat in silence, just across a motionless Dante Wallace. “President Wallace,” Wells spoke finally, turning back to him. “I’m sure you understand our hesitance. Let us talk to Clarke, talk among ourselves, and work out a solution.” His smile could put his father, the wildly successful politician, to shame.  


“Of course,” Dante grinned, pulling himself to his feet and sweeping his hand towards the door. “You may take your leave, boys. I hope you reconsider. Mount Weather would be honored to have the Ark among us.”  


Bellamy and Wells made a swift exit. Bellamy had to admit, Wells was better with words than he was. “Clarke is never going to agree to this.”  


Wells shook his head. “Not a chance.”  


“What do you think?”  


Wells heaved a sigh. “It would be beneficial to us.”  


“Exactly.”  


“But, can we trust them?” Wells stopped to turn and face Bellamy. “They lied to you about Octavia and they lied to us about the Grounders betraying Clarke. If they lie about basic things like that, what will they tell the truth about? I’m not sure about this.”  


“But guaranteed safety for all of our people.” Bellamy argued. “I think we should give it a shot.”  


Wells tilted his head. “We need to negotiate a bit more. We need to have access to our weapons. Especially if we’ll be living outside. But those weapons can be turned on Mount Weather if they turn on us.”  


Bellamy nodded. “I think you need to do the negotiating.”  


“Why? You’re our leader.”  


Bellamy shrugged as they continued down the hall towards their dorms. “I can rally the forces but I’m not very good with words and negotiating peace. That was always you.”  


Wells nodded. “Alright. Well it’s your turn to do the talking, we have to rally the delinquents now.”  


They entered the dorms with their shoulders squared and chins up. The delinquents were milling about the bunks, smiling and laughing and flirting, the first time they had the opportunity to be real kids since they were on the Ark. Even before they were all arrested in their individual incidents. “Listen up!” Bellamy boomed.  


The din died down as the delinquents circled around their two leaders. “Where’s Clarke?” Monty asked quietly from Bellamy’s left side.  


“Don’t know, she wasn’t happy, stormed off.” Bellamy murmured to Monty as the final few kids fell in behind the others. “Dante Wallace has offered us a place here at Mount Weather, the Ark will join us when they fall later tonight or tomorrow. Our jobs essentially will be to expand the bunker’s resources to the outside. We won’t be stuck in another tin can.” Bellamy gave a reassuring smile. “They give us their technology and protection, in return we help them with the work outside. We all know they’re not able to withstand going outside right? So we’re their eyes and ears on the Grounders.”  


“And why is Clarke not jumping on this?” Murphy drawled. “What’s the catch Blake?”  


Bellamy’s smile dimmed just slightly. “That’s the thing. The catch isn’t really, a thing. The Mountain Men, they survive by using frequent blood transfusions with people who can withstand the air. They capture and bleed the Grounders and use their blood to survive.”  


There was complete silence for a few seconds. “What in the actual fuck?” Murphy stepped forward. “Look, I’m no angel, but that’s just fucked up.”  


There were murmurs of agreement through the crowd. “We can’t do that. That’s just wrong.” Harper whispered to the girl beside her, Monroe.  


“Look, if it were me, I’d be fucking pissed, as I’m sure the Grounders are. Explains why they killed Jasper when we tried to get here back when we thought it was abandoned.” Murphy shrugged. “And forget about me, if it were my soulmate, I’ll be fucked if I let them do that shit to them.”  


That got more of a response. Bellamy struggled to keep his composure. “Look, it’s not us, and they were going to kill us anyway. We can’t make this decision lightly.”  


“And what about Clarke?” Murphy countered.  


“She doesn’t like it.” Bellamy raised his chin. “But I’m staying here, and I suggest you all do the same.”  


Murphy scoffed. “Fuck this. I’m out of here.” Murphy shoved his way through the crowd towards his bunk to gather his things.  


Several other delinquents scoffed and grunted their assent as they dispersed from the crowd to leave with him. Bellamy counted a dozen leaving with Murphy, but as soon as Murphy tried to leave the room, the lights shut down in the room, and a loud alarm blared. A red light flickered on, lighting the delinquents’ pale, terrified faces.  


“Ah shit.” Murphy cursed.

 

Lexa’s feet ached and she was reduced to an undignified trudge thanks to Clarke’s inability to travel at any reasonable speed, but she had to admit, she didn’t envy Anya’s position. The other sky girl, Raven, seemed to be just a bit more irritating than Clarke was. Her whole body ached with the struggle in the tunnels against the Ripa, but at least there were no gaping wounds in immediate danger of killing her.  


“You’ll need to clean the cuts on your feet. They’re going to get infected if you just leave them be.” Clarke huffed as she struggled to keep up with Lexa. “You’re the type to ignore your wounds aren’t you?”  


Lexa wouldn’t dignify her with a response. Her mind was far ahead of any possible infections or injuries. “Anya mentioned the Skaikru falling to the ground. What do you know of this?”  


Clarke was taken aback, she shrugged a shoulder. “Dante had Monty helping their tech crew with building a radio to contact the Ark. They must have made plans to meet and negotiate. How did Anya know?”  


“Likely Raven also contacted your people. We must intercept them, if the Maunon make allies of the Skaikru then we will have no chance of taking them down. My people will be slaughtered in a very short war.” Lexa spoke quickly, stressing the danger of the situation. She stopped suddenly and looked to Clarke. “Convince your people to join us in an alliance against the Maunon and I will guarantee a place in the coalition for your people, and I will negotiate with Trikru and Azgedakru for land to be designated to the Skaikru once the Maunon has fallen.”  


Clarke struggled to keep up with this turn of events. A coalition? Could she guarantee that Mount Weather will fall with the Ark’s help? Could she convince Jaha and the council to wage a war the moment they touch the Earth? Unlikely. “I’m not in charge-“  


“Skrish,” Lexa rolled her eyes. “Your scouts followed your orders. You will make the rest of your people follow your orders as well. Only cowards hide behind children. Clarke, this is not an option.” Lexa warned. “If you cannot tell me that they will listen to you and accept my alliance invitation I will be forced to eliminate the threat before it can fully form. Kill the dragon before it’s learned to spit fire.” Lexa knew she was perhaps being harsh on the girl, she clearly hadn’t been a general for very long, but Lexa needed to make a move before her hand was played for her.  


Clarke blanched. “I’ll convince them.”  


Lexa nodded once, holding an arm out to shake. Clarke took her hand and Lexa furrowed her brows. Lexa removed her hand and gripped Clarke’s forearm. “Like this, deals are made like this here. Grabbing the hand leaves you vulnerable to attack.”  


Clarke tilted her head, a bit like the puppies Lexa sees squirming in the wagons of some Azgeda merchants. “How?”  


Lexa held her hand out again, which Clarke took, and in a flash, Lexa had twisted herself behind Clarke. Just as Clarke caught up with the movement, Lexa shifted just slightly enough for Clarke to feel the muscles in her shoulder burn. “It takes very little effort to force the other person to submit.” Lexa explained calmly. “But if you grip the forearm, then they are unable to prevent you from releasing the grip the moment they make a threatening move. Your forearm is broader, unless they are much larger and stronger, pulling your arm back to your chest like this,” Lexa swung her arm in a tight circle out and back towards her chest. “Will immediately release you, because the fingers are not strong enough to stop you.”  


Clarke nodded, taking in the miniature lesson as best she could before Lexa marched off again. “How much further to TonDC?”  


“Not far.”  


“Will Raven and Anya already be there?”  


“No, they have to circle downstream for a few miles before there is a natural bridge they can cross over and make their way back to TonDC.” Lexa explained, diverting her path around the thickest of the underbrush.  


Clarke finally fell silent and Lexa tried to subtly pick up the pace a little bit. Within a few minutes, Clarke was back to breathing heavily and struggling behind her.

It was nearly midday when they finally reached the first signs of civilization. Lexa didn’t startle, unlike Clarke, when two scouts dropped from the trees to follow her into town. “Mochof, konge Indra en lid em gon ai.”  


“Sha, Heda.” One scout bowed and took off through the forest.  


Lexa continued to walk, with Clarke at her heels, her back straightening and jaw setting with every step closer. The second scout stopped abruptly to untie his boots from his own feet and offer them to his Commander. “Beja, Heda. Teik em in. Et laik ai koma.”  


Lexa hesitated just a moment before she took the boots graciously, grasping his forearm and shoulder with either hand. “Mochof, ai lukot.”  


The scout grinned so broadly, Clarke thought his face might split. Clearly, Lexa’s people loved her dearly. It gave her hope that perhaps she wouldn’t be allying herself with a tyrant. At least she could use this as leverage for the inevitable debate with the council. “What’s going on?” Clarke asked as Lexa finished lacing up her borrowed boots.  


“I am sending for Indra.”  


“Okay, when does the Ark come down?”  


“Clarke, you ask as if I haven’t been out of your eyesight literally all day.” Lexa snapped before she took a longer breath. “That is one of the questions Indra will be answering.”  


They only walked for a few more minutes before they found themselves breaking through the tree line into camp. It must have been several hundred warriors surrounding them as they all surged forward to see their Commander the moment they stepped into visibility.  


“Gyon op, Heda!” The barefoot scout shouted to the crowd, followed by war cries and chants. Soon the massive crowd was shouting in unison as Lexa held her head high and walked forward. The warriors moved out of her way, and as she passed they pressed gentle hands to her shoulders, back, and the fabric of her stolen clothing. Clarke could hear the mumblings and whispers of warriors as they took notice of her, but they paid her very little mind in all.  


“What are they saying?” Clarke asked as they finally cleared the crowd, meeting a severe looking woman in full armor.  


“Long live the Commander.”  


“That’s not the only thing they were saying.”  


“They may be calling you either a god, an angel, or a demon. It’s a mixture.” Lexa barely gave Clarke a glance. “They are stunned and respectful, we are the only ones to escape the Maunon with our lives and sanity intact.”  


“Heda,” Indra, Clarke assumed, bowed her head in respect. “I’m relieved to see you alive and unharmed.”  


“Mochof, Indra. We have much to discuss.”  


“Of course, Heda. My people are at your utmost disposal.”  


Lexa nodded. “Allow me to change into more suitable clothes, and then we can get to work.”  


Lexa left Clarke to stand awkwardly under the unflinching scrutiny of Indra. The woman was terrifying, to say the least. In fact, Clarke was more intimidated by Indra than any of the other massive warriors dispersing happily among the encampment. “I, uh, I’m Clarke.”  


Indra stared down her nose at Clarke. “I’m aware. How did you escape, natrona?”  


Clarke rolled her eyes. She knew that word. “I didn’t betray anyone. As I’ve explained to Lexa, the Maunon captured my people just the same as yours.”  


Indra scoffed. “Not just the same. But believe whatever you wish Sky Girl.”  


Clarke could hear quick footsteps behind her, but Indra didn’t react at all as a strong hand grabbed the back of Clarke’s shirt and yanked her back and around to face a very, very angry Octavia Blake. 

“What happened to Lincoln? Where’s my brother?”  


“Bellamy is in the mountain still. He stayed behind voluntarily, I’ll explain in private.”  


“And Lincoln?” Octavia finally let the panic settle across her face, masking any lingering fury. “Where is he?”  


Clarke blinked back tears of her own. “He was overcome in the tunnels. He’s dead.”  


“No,” Octavia shook her head, tears falling down her face. “He’s not dead. I can feel the binds around his wrists and throat.”  


Clarke swallowed the dread building in her throat. “I’m sorry. He must be in the mountain.”  


Indra hissed, but immediately quieted when she caught sight of Lexa returning, armor and sash in place. “Heda, we’ve heard news of Lincoln, what of Anya, and the branwada?”  


Lexa nodded gravely. “Lincoln was overcome, I don’t know if he was taken to the Maunonkru or eaten. Anya and Raven are circling the river.”  


Indra gave a single nod. “Heda, the Skaikru are falling in a few hours, ai seken, Octavia, spoke to a sky person earlier. They’ll be armed.”  


“Do you know where they aim to land?” Clarke asked, forgetting that Indra assumed her to be an idiot. Indra glared, but when Lexa stared expectantly, Indra nodded.  


“We marked it on a map.” Indra gestured towards a large tent, evidently used for planning.  


Lexa nodded once before turning slightly, she searched the crowd for just a second before she called out. “Gustus!”  


Clarke turned to see an absolute beast of a man lumber over towards the group of women. He dipped his head in acknowledgment, but it seemed more an afterthought, it seemed clear to Clarke that he and the Commander were rather close. “Yes, Commander?”  


“Ride back to Polis. You will relieve Titus of his duties and send him here. His… expertise, is required.” Lexa spoke distastefully.  


“Heda, I am your personal guard-“  


“I am surrounded by warriors, and Anya is coming along in a few hours. I have plenty of guards. You are needed in Polis. Quiet the Coalition. Word has most definitely reached the other clans.” Lexa spoke as she walked into the tent, her entourage following at her heels. “I will not have anyone taking advantage of my distraction. Ensure that Titus has not done anything behind my back. Suspend all trade negotiations and border disputes until I can give them my full attention. Do not give them word of the Maunon war until I send a rider letting you know of the developments here.” Lexa ordered, taking a sweeping glance over various maps. She clicked her tongue and began rearranging everything on the table. “Go at once, Gustus.”  


The hulk bowed his head and turned to leave.  


“Oh and Gustus?” Lexa waited until she had his attention, a slight smirk on her face. “You are not Anya, don’t expect to get away with rearranging my maps.”  


Gustus grunted, bowing his head again. “Sha, Heda.”  


Once Gustus finally left the tent, Clarke moved to look at the maps on the table, Indra glaring at the back of her head as she also entered further into the tent. Octavia remained at the entrance to the tent, back straight and jaw so tight Clarke could practically hear her teeth grinding together. Clarke studied the circles and marks surrounding an ovular area drawn over a remarkably detailed drawing of the valley between Mount Weather and TonDC. “You’re going to surround them?” Clarke asked dubiously, looking to Indra and Lexa respectively. “That’ll scare them. They’ll only be more likely to join the Maunon.”  


Lexa shifted her weight to her other foot and glared down at the page. “No, Anya thought of that, these troops are hidden in the trees. This note here says that they are to be hidden in the trees and out of sight.” Lexa mumbled to herself. “Alright, Indra, I want an inner and outer ring around the landing site. Inner ring faces inwards, ready to fight in the case that they are hostile. Outer ring defends against any Maunonkru attempting to intercept the Skaikru. Clarke, you will be the first face they see. I’ll send Octavia with you as well. The more friendly-faces they see, the better we can assuage their fears and convince them that we’re the allies they want. When you can guarantee that they won’t attack us with your fayogon, you will signal to us and I and my guard will meet with your council to negotiate the terms of our alliance. When the war is over and the Maunon has fallen, we will discuss further the settlement of your people and their entry to the coalition.”  


“They will enter the coalition? Heda?”  


Lexa glared at Indra until the woman bowed her head in submission. “You will not question my leadership again, Indra. So far, the Skaikru have been a peaceful and reasonable people. Their invasion as described to me has been unintentional, and within the neutral zone within the shadow of the Maunon anyway. They will assist in the rebuilding of the damage done to TonDC.”  


Indra pursed her lips, nodding once. “Moba, Heda.”  


Lexa waved her off. “Indra, you are dismissed. Ensure our warriors are prepared and have your scouts watch for Anya and Raven. Octavia, stay.”  


Indra blinked away her confusion and left without another word, patting her seken’s shoulder as she passed her. Octavia stepped forward cautiously. “Sha, Heda?”  


“Please, sit. I understand you are Indra’s seken and Linkon’s keryontai?”  


“Sha,”  


Lexa looked between the two girls. She needed to know exactly what she was getting into with the Skaikru. “About Becca and Alie, I need to know everything that you do.”  


Clarke shook her head, brows furrowed. “We don’t know anything, Lexa. I already told you. No one on the Ark knows anything about either of those women.”  


Lexa scrutinized Clarke from across the table. “The first Heda, Becca, according to legend fell from the sky just as you did. I don’t believe in coincidences, Clarke.”  


Clarke glanced to Octavia. The younger girl shrugged. “You’re the one who actually learned Ark History. I was under the floor my whole life.”  


Lexa tilted her head, regarding the seken. “That is… absurd.”  


Octavia shrugged. “I was the second.”  


“You still are, you are Indra’s second.” Lexa shook her head. “I don’t understand.”  


Clarke answered for her. “The Ark had a one child policy, to save resources, since we lived in a closed system. Octavia is the younger sibling of Bellamy. Her mother hid her for most of her life to keep her secret. She was put into lockup after she was discovered.”  


Octavia scoffed. “I’m an illegal.”  


Lexa was flabbergasted, to say the least. How could a person be illegal for being a person? Admittedly, she supposed, it was hypocritical to criticize the Skaikru for outlawing children when her own people threw away children born with mutilations. Lexa hated that tradition, sure, but if she were to outlaw it, there would be no ethical way of enforcing such a law. Those children rarely survived infancy, let alone birth. How would her guards be able to distinguish a natural child death from infanticide? Lexa schooled her features and nodded once. “I understand.” Lexa was quiet for a moment. “What of Polis?”  


Clarke shook her head. “Polis? I mean, it’s an Ancient Greek thing isn’t it?”  


Octavia nodded. “Yeah, my brother read a lot about the Romans and the Greeks and all that. Polis is basically an ideal city-state. Like philosophically.”  


Lexa was confused. What about Romans and Greeks? “Romans?”  


“Well, there’s Indianapolis.” Clarke supplied.  


“That doesn’t make any sense, we’re nowhere near Indiana. We’re in Washington D.C.”  


“What was the one in Maryland? Annapolis?”  


“What are you two saying?” Lexa interrupted. “Is this some sort of code?”  


Clarke and Octavia turned to the Grounder, hiding their smiles. “It’s not, Heda.” Octavia explained. “Before the bombs, this entire continent was essentially one clan. And they divided the clan into tribes, with villages inside those tribes. One of the villages was called Annapolis. After the perfect Polis city, from Greek philosophy, and probably some woman named Anna. Something like that right Clarke?”  


Clarke nodded. “The capital of the Clan was called Washington D.C. That’s probably where TonDC got its name.”  


“It can be assumed that Polis comes from Annapolis.” Octavia shrugged. “Not more than a day or two ride’s east right?”  


Lexa nodded hesitantly.  


“Annapolis,” Both girls nodded.  


Lexa closed her eyes in frustration. “Becca fell from the sky in a ship called Polis.”  


Clarke crossed her arms intrigued. “That doesn’t make any sense. No one has dropped from the Ark before us. There was a station called Polaris, but that was destroyed. No one could have survived Polaris.”  


Octavia shrugged. “Look if you wanna talk Polaris conspiracies then you really need to talk to Murphy. His mom was nuts, if anyone knows anything about that it’s Murphy.”  


Lexa rolled her stiffening shoulders. Pointedly ignoring Clarke’s answering wince. She certainly didn’t want to talk about _that _. “You’re dismissed. We will discuss this more in depth once Titus arrives.”__  


“Sha, Heda.” Octavia bowed her head and fled the tent in relief.  


Clarke remained behind, sitting in her seat, arms crossed, staring Lexa down as she fiddled with the maps in front of her. “You can leave now, Clarke.”  


Clarke shrugged. “You need to take care of those feet. If you don’t clean them they’re going to get infected.”  


Lexa glared harshly. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”  


Clarke rolled her eyes. “Then why don’t you?”  


“I’m busy planning a war.”  


“Yeah, without any of your generals or advisors or even a solid alliance. You’ve delegated the necessary tasks. Your turn.” Clarke retorted, a victorious smirk taking over her face.  


Lexa grunted. “Fine, I’ll do that now. Will that be all, Prisa?”  


Clarke scoffed. “I don’t know what that means, but I’m offended. Are we going to discuss this at all?”  


“No.”  


“No?”  


“No.”  


“You’re seriously going to just ignore this?”  


“I have more pressing matters to concern myself with, Clarke.” Lexa retorted. Sure, it was childish, but the Skaikru were children themselves, it only made sense that Lexa used their primary mode of communication: mockery.  


Clarke blinked back at her. “Fine,”  


Pain laced through her chest like a bolt of lightning. It was sharp, bitter, and stinging, but Lexa refused to react. When all else fails, denial works best. She lifted her chin just a bit higher and stared down those bright blue eyes. Lexa watched the shades change from a bright, pained blue, to the darkened skies just before a raging storm. “Clarke,” Lexa murmured. “You have to keep this a secret. There are many people who will take any chance to gain leverage against me. Including capturing, torturing, or even killing you.”  


Clarke looked away. “Would it work?” She forced herself to look back up.  


It was Lexa’s turn to avoid Clarke’s questioning gaze. “It didn’t work the last time.” Lexa hated the way her voice broke. She had spoken of Costia in passing several times over the years. Only with Anya, of course, but more than once. “Costia died because she was mine. Queen Nia kom Azgeda will not hesitate to lunge at the opportunity to capture my keryontai.”  


Clarke was unreadable as they stared at each other, allowing the silence in the tent to stifle them. “That explains it then.”  


Lexa closed her eyes, heaving a heavy sigh. “That explains it.”  


Clarke nodded, moving to her feet. “Clean those cuts. And take it easy on that shoulder. I think you strained it in the river.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I kinda dropped off suddenly right in the middle of my update groove yeah? Had some technical issues with my laptop, and then the new semester at school hit me like a brick to the fucking face. I'm taking essentially all writing (and reading) intensive courses. Not that I can help it. I'm a poli sci major with a sociology minor, which essentially means my ass is always in the library and I permanently smell like ink. But my typing speed is top notch yooooooo.  
> Anyway back to the chapter. So we're getting into some juicy stuff when it comes to politics, slowburn, and just in general miscommunications. My gay ass wants to focus really heavily on Clexa and Ranya, but like, there is gonna be some fun stuff happening on Bellamy and Wells' end of things. Murphy and Finn (ugh) are going to feature a little bit more in the next few chapters. But it's necessary for the good stuff. I got some plans for Murphy and I'm totally not interested in treating Finn Fuckboy Collins as a hero. I'm sure yall can tell by my writing alone I can't stand him. He's just so unnecessary.  
> Also, anyone wanna talk about how the Polaris station thing being the actual origin of Polis completely ruined several layers of literary genius? Like, TonDC, duh, Annapolis, and then the whole Polis is treated as a shining, perfect city on a hill to the Grounders (and displayed that way in the show) like the legit definition of the word Polis as defined by Greek philosophers and then it all falls flat- JK! Grounders are actually the stupid savages the Skaikru think they are! Barely literate and incapable of distinguishing obvious gaps in a word to be missing letters and naming their entire city after a ~mysterious entity~ despite the fact that 1. Becca fell well before the Grounders forgot basic history and geography of the area. 2. I live in the Baltimore Annapolis DC area like I legit know the area really well as well as its history why the hell is DC sparse forests and not a swamp like it was originally, wtf I'm just. I feel so jipped. And 3. right if Alie wanted to depopulate Earth she'd aim at the most populous cities and for the biggest bang for her buck would be to drop the bomb on my house and kill everyone in the state of Maryland, like this place would be the desert lands not Trikru lands I don't think the show did a very good job of showing basic geography cuz like, I'm not a brilliant geographer either, I can't tell you where most states are, but I know this state and the surrounding states and I'm kinda salty. Then again, it's the 100. there's a lot to be salty about.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least I'm not pre-med.

Bellamy gave the door one more wrench for good measure, more a show than an actual attempt to open the door, but no one called him out on it. They were locked in. Prisoners once more.

“What was that brilliant idea about staying here again?” Murphy mocked.

Bellamy wouldn’t respond to him. He had other problems to worry about. Mainly the ones regarding the locked door and the psychotic murderers surrounding them. Wells was fidgety, more than usual. “Think this has anything to do with Clarke?”

Wells looked up guiltily. “Knowing her… yeah.”

Bellamy swore under his breath. “You think we can talk our way out of this?”

Wells shrugged. “We can spare ourselves without a doubt. Getting Clarke out of trouble is different. If Mount Weather is anything like the Ark… she could be signing her own execution order.”

Finn Collins sauntered over to join the boys at the door. “So, what’s the plan?”

Murphy scoffed. “Nothing yet. Our oh so brilliant leader didn’t think of this.”

“We need to get Clarke.” Bellamy ignored Murphy. “We don’t know where she is.”

Finn clenched his jaw and nodded. “The door locked?”

“Yeah, dumbass. Where’ve you been the last twenty minutes?” Murphy sneered.

Finn rolled his eyes. “Okay, so how do we get out there? Through the air vents?”

“Yeah sure, I’ll give you a boost Mr. Bond.” Murphy rolled his eyes. “No point in making a plan until we know what’s going on.”

“Everyone please keep calm, there is a breach in the containment facilities, we have it under control.” Dante Wallace’s soothing voice sounded over the loud speakers. “We’ll have this all sorted out in a few minutes, there is no danger to any civilians so please, go about your business as best you can while in lock down.”

The com system shut off, leaving the room dead silent. Bellamy shared a concerned glance with Wells before he moved to his own cot. “You heard him. It’s a containment emergency. We’ll wait until it’s sorted out and then we can get on with our plans.”

“Yeah, and what if that containment emergency is us?” Murphy countered. “We were just about to leave. You can’t convince me this isn’t some George Orwell shit right here.”

“Shut up, Murphy!” Bellamy shouted. “I get you have some tragic past and a deeply ingrained distrust for authority, but this is the only choice we have! So, shut up, sit down, and wait until something of actual significance happens! They haven’t done anything but put the whole bunker on lockdown. Probably to protect us from the Grounders.”

Wells stepped between them. “Bellamy’s right. We don’t have much of a choice. Once they sort out whatever’s going on out there, you’ll be able to leave.” He placated. “Fear mongering and making everyone else nervous is going to get us killed.”

Murphy scoffed and stalked towards his group of followers, muttering under his breath to them and gaining nods and murmurs of their own.

Bellamy leaned towards Wells. “We need to get someone out of here to get to Octavia and Raven. We’ll send Finn with Murphy and his group, he’ll get the girls and bring them back here to safety.”

“Are you sure? He hasn’t been the same since the hallucinating nuts…” Wells furrowed his brow. “You should go with him and make sure he doesn’t do anything reckless.”

Bellamy shook his head. “Dante sees me and you as the leaders here. I don’t think he’d appreciate one or both of us abandoning him with a bunch of children known for their inability to follow the law.”

Wells nodded. “We’ll just have to trust him then.”

 

 

Raven needed to step up her cardio. She and Anya had been jogging through the brush for hours now, and she wasn’t entirely sure that they had lost the Mountain Men. “The Ark is going to fall any minute now, Anya. When are we going to get there?”

Anya shook her head. “We’re not going to make TonDC before night fall.”

“Then can we at least slow down? We haven’t seen one of them in hours.”

Anya slowed enough for Raven to catch up, coughing, bent at the waist. Raven didn’t miss the wince on the other woman’s face as she rubbed at her own chest. Raven’s lungs ached, Anya deserved the discomfort. “We can cut through the valley, get to TonDC before midnight, but then we run the risk of running into the Skaikru before they’re ready.”

“We’ll take that risk.” Raven pushed the hair from her face. “The Skaikru won’t hurt you as long as I’m here. I’m their best mechanic; there’s no way they’ll risk hurting me.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Let’s go then.”

Raven trudged forward once more. Anya stopped them after a few yards. “Empty field, we won’t have any cover. Their flying scouts could find us. We have to be careful.”

Raven sighed as they crouched at the edge of the tree line, eyes scanning the field ahead of them. Anya took several long steps, swiveling her hips and never raising her head above the grass tops. Raven stumbled after her, obviously unpracticed. Focused on her feet, she hadn’t noticed Anya freeze with her eyes on the sky. Raven knocked her over and both tumbled in the grass. Anya pointed towards a point in the sky in awe, and Raven followed her gesture smiling at the trail of fire in the sky. Her smile faltered as it came closer and closer.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have cut through the valley they were aiming for.” Raven winced.

Anya was stiff, clearly, despite having witnessed this twice before, hadn’t prepared her anymore for the Ark’s final descent. “You did not tell me there would be two of these Arks.” Anya pointed to another trail across the sky heading north.

Raven swore. “They must have broken up or something. Abby said they were having trouble with the drop ships. What’s up that way?”

“Azgeda,” Anya was grim, her jaw set. “They do not take kindly to strangers within their territory. They are violent, brutal. They are traitors and savages. Your people will not last long in Azgeda territory. Not unless Heda can convince Queen Nia to hand over your people alive. Nia is opportunistic. It will cost the Skaikru much more than tek.”

Raven sucked in a breath. “What will it take?”

Anya shrugged. “That’s up to Nia and Heda. And perhaps Clarke.”

Raven nodded. “We need to get going.”

Anya led the way as they nervously picked through the field, one eye on the tree line, the other on the growing ball of fire. They scrambled across the field in just a minute, but by then the ball of flame had grown into a roar. Raven couldn’t help the grin grow across her face as the Ark made contact with the ground no further than a mile away, sending tremors through the earth and a wave of dust to engulf them. Of course, Raven hadn’t expected the trees to tilt and fall. Pain bloomed across the back of her head and all of the sudden she couldn’t find Anya.

As she panted, the air only grew thicker with dust and debris and it only took a few seconds for Raven to lose consciousness.

 

Raven woke up to groaning and a pounding headache. As she sat up, a half inch thick film of dust and dirt fell from her body, and she realized as she coughed up the dirt from her lungs that she had been the one groaning. “Anya?”

Another coughing fit seized her as her throat contracted. She could use some water. Raven couldn’t tell if there was still tons of dust in the air, blocking out the light, or if they had been out long enough for the sun to set. “Anya!”

There was a grunt somewhere to the right, a shift in the debris, and Raven felt the sting of a concussion as she moved towards Anya. “Think I’m pinned.” Anya garbled through mouthfuls of dust.

“I’ll dig you out, just stay still.”

“You hurt?” Anya grunted as Raven dug through the branches and twigs covering Anya’s body.

“Don’t think so. Is that your concussion or mine?”

“Mine, definitely mine.” Anya groaned. “A branch hit me when the tree fell.”

Raven nodded. “We’ve been unconscious for a few hours. I’m assuming once I get you out you can walk?”

“I’ll be fine. Let’s just go. The Maunon will be here soon to intercept the Skaikru.”

 

 

The Grounders were endlessly efficient in immediately surrounding the smoking hunk of metal. True to Lexa’s plan, they kept to the trees, out of sight and ready to come in to their Commander’s aid should the Skaikru prove dangerous.

Clarke sat atop a horse, a real horse, for the first time in her life, and frankly she couldn’t tell if she was excited or petrified. The thing was massive, were they always that big or had the radiation caused the horses to grow bigger? Lexa had smirked at her the entire time as she struggled to first approach the beast, mount it, and then ride it. The Commander, unsurprisingly, sat atop her massive stallion regally. She looked like the queen of the forests, which Clarke supposed she very well may be, and she swayed with the horse as gracefully as the dancers Clarke watched in the Ark Archives.

“The trick is in your legs.” Lexa grunted when Clarke nearly slipped from her mount again. “You can’t just sit on her back. You need to hold yourself up and allow the saddle to distribute your weight comfortably for her.”

Clarke shifted again. “Like this?”

Lexa glanced over her posture. “Not perfect, but better. You will need to learn to ride if you wish to be taken seriously by the Coalition.”

Clarke rubbed the sweat from her forehead onto her sleeve. “What is the Coalition like?”

Lexa grunted again, though, after closer inspection, Clarke realized it had been carefully concealed laughter. “You’ve seen a group of children divvy out sweets to each other, yes?” Lexa smirked. “It’s much like that. Only, instead of children, they are grown men and women arguing between themselves over horribly boring things such as trade routes and tax rates and military jurisdiction.”

Clarke furrowed her brows. “Those aren’t already set out?”

Lexa sat a bit straighter. “I didn’t create the Coalition until four years ago, when I had finally gained the respect I deserved as Heda.”

“So you were the one who formed the Coalition in the first place?”

Lexa nodded once, though there was no missing the pride in the set of her jaw and the subtle flexing of her shoulders. “It took many months and sacrifices that I’m not sure I’d make a second time.”

Clarke fought the immediate urge to question her, it wasn’t her place. But at the same time, she had kind of been there… in a way. She felt the slightest hum of an ache in her chest, and on instinct, she clenched her right hand.

“Stop that.” Lexa snarled through gritted teeth. “Just, stop.”

Clarke flinched. “Habit, I suppose.”

Lexa seemed to deflate as she avoided Clarke’s eyes. “Thank you.” She was so quiet Clarke could barely hear her, and she could feel the guilt build up in the pit of her stomach.

Good. She deserved it after the shit she pulled in the planning tent. Lexa couldn’t ignore her forever. And frankly, it had hurt knowing that Lexa wanted to ignore that Clarke even existed. “We will be there soon. You will speak to your people, ensure that they will not harm us, and then we will come to meet with your people to discuss the terms of our alliance.”

Clarke nodded along. “And if my people decide that they will ally with the Mountain?”

Lexa’s expression darkened. “Then they are enemies of the Coalition and I will have no choice but to exterminate your people.”

Clarke’s heart dropped to her stomach. “They’ll do what’s right.”

Hopefully.

 

 

Anya must have exaggerated her ability to perform with a concussion, because she was all over the place. Raven had become the chief navigator through the woods because Anya could hardly walk in a straight line. “Anya, you need to see a doctor as soon as we get there. Abby is a friend of mine, she can help you.”

Anya nodded dimly. “We need to get to Lexa. I’m her Chief Guard during military expeditions. If something happens to her, it’s on me.”

“You’re not going to be very useful with the concussion you’ve got right now.” Raven winced at another round of throbbing. “It’s bad enough that I can barely think straight, and it’s not even my concussion.”

Anya hardly listened to her, and simply continued to trudge her way through the brush. All pretenses of being quiet and stealthy forgotten. They were wounded animals at this point. If anyone were to follow their trail, they were dead.

Raven scrubbed the sweat from her eyes, she looked away for just a few seconds, when she looked up, there were two spearheads inches from her face. Raven yelped and stumbled back into Anya. The warrior grunted. “Hod yu op, gona.” Anya straightened as much as she could. “This skaion is mine.”

The spears dropped immediately, and Raven uncrossed her eyes enough to see the two figures before her, nearly perfectly camouflaged with their surroundings. One was tiny, perhaps half Raven’s size, clearly a child learning to be a warrior. “Go report to Heda that General Anya and the sky girl has been found.” The warrior clearly enunciated in slow English to the child.

“Sha, fos.” The child chirped and took off without a sound through the trees.

The warrior turned. “Heda has entered camp, she told us to send you to her when you arrived.”

Anya nodded her head. “Mochof, gona.”

The warrior nodded and stepped aside to let the two pass. Raven followed as Anya struggled to lift her head and pretend nothing was wrong. As soon as they left the warrior’s sight though, Anya slouched again, making as much noise as before.

“So we have to be close, if there’s guards out here already.”

“Sha,” Anya murmured. “Clarke must have successfully convinced your people to join an alliance with ours rather than the Maunon. We’ll see if they can accept Heda’s terms.”

Raven nodded, smiling slightly. They were safe for now, with guards around them in the trees and her people under control, Raven finally had the chance to relax and enjoy the soft breeze rustling through the trees.

Until shots rang out and Anya’s body hit the ground with a hollow thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, school's going alright. I'm posting this while I'm watching two pre-med students agonize over their chem homework. I really love being Poli Sci sometimes lol. Anyway, nothing to rant about this time around, but as always I'm down to chat about anything :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It hasn't been a complete eternity has it?

Clarke hadn’t run into her mother’s arms in years. Not since she was a child. But there was no stopping the tears streaking down her face the moment Abby Griffin shouted her name and ran towards her daughter with open arms.

It wasn’t just the week on the ground she spent wondering if her mother would make it down from the Ark, it was the months spent in solitary before then after Wells betrayed her, it was the week they spent silent and tense as her father deliberated over what he was to do with the knowledge that their home was dying. It was all of that time she had without a mother that made this moment all the sweeter. She was immediately enveloped in warmth and comfort as her mom held her waist close and her other hand moved to press into the back of her neck to bring her face closer to her chest. If she squeezed Clarke tight enough, perhaps she could push her daughter back into that tiny blonde baby, with the shining eyes and the dimples, and should would never be forced to let her go again.

But Abby didn’t squeeze tight enough and Clarke pulled back, tears still running, a sniffle and a grounding sigh, Clarke set that determined gaze on her mother again. Abby feared she’d never get to see that look of concentrated stubbornness again. “Mom, this is important. You have to get the Council together. The Grounders want an alliance and we need to negotiate with their Commander.”

“Only a few members came down on this pod. Kane, myself, and Kaplan. Cole, Muir, and Fuji, are on the other ship.”

“And Jaha?”

Abby pressed her lips into a thin line. “There was a malfunction in the launch, it had to be activated manually. Thelonious volunteered.”

Clarke’s heart sunk. Wells would be devastated. But for now she needed to tamp down the guilt before it consumed her. “Kane is the chancellor?”

Abby shook her head. “It’s complicated. I’m acting Chancellor until we can hold an election.”

“All of the fires are out, right? We need to discuss this now. Spread the word that she’s coming into camp on a horse. I don’t want anyone freaking out.” Clarke spoke quickly, gesturing towards the large groups of scared and confused Arkers milling and meandering around. A few children chased each other around and some rolled about in the grass, ignorant to the hundreds of heavily armed warriors surrounding them, stalking them in the trees.

Abby’s eyebrows twitched, and for a moment Clarke feared she would object, but Abby seemed to realize what was at stake. “Raven told me some of what was going on. Some people in hazmats abducted the children?”

Clarke nodded. “Listen, I promise I’ll explain everything when she gets here. But-“

“Clarke?” Another voice called from beside them. Marcus Kane stood, clean hair just a bit tousled. Clarke winced at the guard jacket he sported, her experiences with the guards were rather negative, but from what she remembered, Kane had been a bit egotistical and emotionally distant, but not unkind to her and her father. Abby despised him though. “It’s good to see that you’re okay.”

“Marcus, you need to delegate camp making and guard patrol to someone else. Clarke says the Grounder Commander is demanding we negotiate this alliance immediately.” Abby ordered.

Kane raised his chin, squaring his shoulders slightly. “What happened to Mount Weather?”

Clarke glowered. “Allying with Mount Weather would result in a slaughter at the hands of the Grounders, and if not, it’s a risk I’m not willing to take.”

Kane’s eyebrows rose. “And if it’s a risk the Council is willing to take?”

Clarke straightened. “It won’t be. They’re withholding information from you. To trust them would be a serious breach in logical reasoning.” Clarke barely suppressed the disdainful snarl twitching at her lips. “Besides,” Clarke lowered her voice and turned to her mother, stepping in to murmur quietly to the older woman. “The Commander is not alone. There are warriors watching through the trees. They’re protecting from a Maunon ambush, and preparing for the possibility that we do, in fact, ally with the enemy. You make the wrong decision in this meeting and the Commander gives the word, we all die here and now.”

Abby’s face darkened from eagerness to begin their life on the ground to fear tinged with indignance. “So we really have no choice.”

“Mom, if you were the Commander, would you give your potential enemy this kind of choice?” Clarke hissed, eyes wild. “Listen, we really don’t have a choice, but we need to prepare for war. The Mountain has all of the delinquents inside. _Including Wells_. And the things they do in there, I’ve seen it firsthand, you don’t want to live with them. They’re not just dangerous, they’re _savage_.”

Abby stepped back, the worry lacing every movement, every minute change in expression desperate. “Kane, get going. We need to prepare for negotiations.”

Kane hesitated, but eventually he turned about-face on his heel and marched away to give orders to his scurrying guards. Abby turned back towards Clarke. “How are you? Are you hurt? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” She fretted, touching Clarke’s face and running her hands along Clarke’s arms. “What about Raven? Where is she? Is she okay?”

“I’m fine Mom, so is Raven. We, uh, had a bit of a run-in with some cannibals and she got separated with one of the Grounder Generals, but don’t worry, she’s safe. They’re uh, soulmates.” Clarke scratched at the back of her neck awkwardly. Clarke briefly felt the urge to blurt out her own discoveries along the soulmate-front. But Lexa’s warnings stuck in her head, Abby would be no threat, but there was no promise that the information wouldn’t get out.

“Cannibals?” Abby yelped.

Clarke hushed her. “It’s not a big deal, they’re a byproduct of the Maunon. She and Anya were helping Lexa and I escape.”

Abby blinked. Since when did her little girl face cannibals with so much apathy? “Clarke-“

“Listen, Lexa is just beyond the trees, I need to signal to her that it’s safe to come into camp.” Clarke turned from her mother distractedly. Abby followed her, just a step behind as Clarke paced to the edge of the clearing.

Clarke raised an arm and waved. Abby watched on in something bordering on terror as the trees seemed to shift and a massive beast stepped through. A figure sat atop the beast, towering over the Arkers. As the beast approached, smooth and slow, the rider’s hips swiveled gently to follow the swaying of the horse’s ribs. Clarke straightened her back, meeting the steely gaze of the woman with her own stubborn glare. Abby gaped. This rider, she wasn’t much older than Clarke, but she carried herself like a goddess descending upon her subjects.

“Dramatic,” Clarke tisked under her breath. “Commander, this is my mother, Abby. She’s the Chancellor of the Ark.”

The Commander’s eyes roved from her daughter to Abby, regarding her with disinterest. “You mentioned a Council.”

“There are only two other members here. They’re preparing for our meeting.” Clarke glanced to her mother.

The Commander nodded once. “Very well,” She swung from her mount with grace and ease, landing on her feet beside the horse and straightening. She cut a powerful figure, but in person, she seemed harmless. “Indra will be joining us, your ships damaged portions of TonDC. When they arrive, Anya and Raven will be escorted here.” Lexa offered an arm to Abby, her grip firm and demanding of respect.

“Clarke tells me the rest of the hundred are inside Mount Weather.”

The Commander’s eyes darken. “A few days ago, we were ambushed during negotiations with Clarke. Raven and Octavia escaped capture, but the rest of your people, and quite a few of mine, were taken into the Maunon. I do not expect mine to still live, but Clarke tells me that your people are being cared for by the Maunon Men.” Lexa squared her shoulders. “I believe that our peoples can work together. Clarke and I have agreed, your people help take down the Maunon for good, and I’ll give the Skaikru a place in my Coalition and territory to control.”

Abby nodded. “Very well, Commander, let’s go inside, I’m sure we can find a room to negotiate in.”

Lexa’s eyes moved from Abby’s to her daughter, only taking a step forward at Clarke’s nod. Lexa lifted a hand to her face and let out a shrill whistle.

Another, equally stern woman appears through the trees, trotting on her massive horse. Indra swung from her own mount without a beat, standing beside her Commander, a barely concealed sneer twitching at her lips. “This is Indra, she is the Chief of the nearest village, TonDC.” Lexa introduced curtly.

Indra offered nothing in greeting, and stared in disdain as Abby attempted to shake her hand.

Clarke and Abby led the two warriors towards the twisted hunk of steel and aluminum stretching up towards the sky, a metal splinter in the Earth. Chunks of dirt and grass littered the ground, making their walking uneven, the kind of impression Clarke wanted to avoid. Even though Lexa already knew Clarke -a lot better than either of them had realized at first- Clarke was intimately aware that this was Lexa’s first impression of her people as a whole.

“This should all be in better order soon, we still don’t know what all has survived the crash-“ Abby rambled as they picked through some debris cluttering the hall. “Here, this is where most of the Council meetings are held.”

Abby stood aside and allowed the other three women to enter. Clarke hadn’t expected the room to be so barren, the Ark was compact, storage was a luxury and every room did its part to hold all of the technology and resources available to them. It was a waste of space to have simply one round table and a cluster of chairs for the whole room.

Lexa, for her part, didn’t seem fazed at all. She didn’t know the significance of emptiness in the Ark, and Clarke didn’t expect her to. Instead, the Commander strode through and took a seat at the head, the seat reserved for the Chancellor.

Clarke struggled to hold back her amusement. If Abby was offended, she did well to hide it, though it was clear she didn’t expect Lexa’s comfort in negotiation situations. “We should wait for Kane and Kaplan. Then we can begin.” Abby took her own seat directly across from Lexa. Indra did not sit, simply stood as sentry behind her, and Clarke had to admit it was certainly somewhat intimidating. Clarke settled next to her mother, folding her hands in front of her at the table. “So, Commander, how long have you been serving as the leader of your people?” Abby asked offhandedly.

Clarke straightened. Hopefully Lexa wouldn’t take offense- “Many years, Chancellor. I ascended when I was around thirteen or fourteen summers.” She answered easily. “You seem surprised at my age, I can guarantee you, Chancellor, that I’m quite experienced.”

Abby was effectively chastised, and for a moment floundered for a response before Kane strode through the door, another man following behind him. Both hesitated in their tracks, identical looks of surprise at the ease in which Lexa took up space, before they settled in around the table.

Kaplan shot glances towards Clarke every now and then as Lexa waited patiently for everyone to become comfortable. Clarke remembered Kaplan had been deeply suspicious of her during her criminal trial prior to imprisonment. Abby had been forced to abstain from her vote as council member and in turn had not been allowed to sit for her trial. Kaplan had been the one to bring up the possibility of floating Clarke immediately, the threat of treason too much to risk. Shocking to say, Clarke wasn’t fond of the man. Luckily Kaplan caught on to the notion that they needed to put together a united front.

“Now that we’re here, we’ll discuss the, rather unusual, circumstances that have brought us here today, and then what we’ll be doing moving forward.” Lexa leaned forward, her expressions closing off even more than they already were. “First, we should discuss your invasion upon my territory.”

“Invasion?” Kaplan interrupted. “We’re not invading anyone. We have just as much right to Earth as you do.”

Lexa glanced to Clarke. _Are you kidding me?_

“Kaplan,” Clarke spoke up, clearing her throat and ignoring the incredulous looks from all three council members before her. “On the Ark, we operated as if no one but us existed, and to an extent we were right, in space, we were alone. But we’re not anymore. We have to abide by their laws too. Lexa’s people have lived here for generations, ours haven’t.”

Kaplan shot her a patronizing look. “Clarke, is it not a human right to live on the planet Earth?”

Lexa sat back to watch them bicker, irritation only growing. “Sure, but we have to remember that we didn’t land in unsettled territory.” Clarke gestured towards Indra. “Indra’s village was damaged from the dropship _you forced us into_.” Clarke glared between the three council members. “Don’t think that any of the hundred are going to forget that.”

Lexa’s eyebrows raised. “Semantics aside, my people will assume you to be invaders unless you can prove yourselves.” Lexa leaned back forward, fixing her steely green eyes on Abby. “You face a decision that must be made before we leave this room today. My people fear you to join the Mountain Men, if you do, you will be attacked and exterminated long before you even reach the Maunon bunker.” Lexa’s light and formal tone took a much darker color that sent Clarke’s heart straight to her stomach. “If you do not, my people will not trust you until you prove that my people will benefit rather than suffer from allowing you to live. Without that trust, the Skaikru are in danger of attacks by angry villagers, hunters, scouts. People I cannot easily control. I am not in the habit of taking reactionary stances in protecting and punishing my people. If I deem you to pose a threat to my people, your settlement of sorts will be leveled.” Lexa paused to let the dramatics settle into the pits of their stomachs.

“However,” Lexa gave them a moment to let their hope lighten their burdens. “The least bloody option is still available. Instead of allying with the people who have terrorized, killed, and bled dry my people for generations, ally with the Coalition instead. With the use of your tek, my people finally have the opportunity to rid ourselves of the Maunon. Ally with us and you will have the chance to prove, without a doubt, your loyalty. After the fall of the Maunon with our combined strength and skill, I can guarantee your people a place in my Coalition, protection from dangers like bandits and hostile peoples, protection from starvation and the cold. In joining the Coalition, I will mediate negotiation between your Chancellor and the Trikru ambassador, you will have the opportunity to claim a small portion of the land here, including whatever land is freed from the grips of the Maunon. It will also be your obligation to fund and man the rebuilding of TonDC.”

Lexa stopped again, allowing the council members a moment to digest. “To me, it is an obvious choice between your lives and your deaths.”

Clarke had to admit, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen Lexa in negotiations, but her verbal prowess still caught her off guard. “Our people are hostages in Mount Weather as well. I don’t know who was in charge with negotiating with Dante, but I know for a fact he was lying. They have no obligation to release the hundred, especially if we back out from whatever deal has already been made. The hundred will be in danger. There is no neutral option for this.”

Kaplan shook his head. “Clarke, most of those kids were slated for execution, even you.”

Lexa jerked slightly in her chair as she turned from Kaplan to Clarke, clearly startled by the new information, but Clarke couldn’t deny it. “In case you haven’t noticed, Kaplan, we’re not on the Ark anymore.” Clarke spit. “Jaha pardoned us for our _unwilling_ cooperation.”

“Once a criminal, always a criminal.” Kaplan argued back. “That’s the doctrine we’ve been living for the last hundred years and I see no reason to change it now.”

“No reason?” Kane interrupted before Clarke could argue back. “We’re no longer in competition for the air we breathe. We can afford to rehabilitate criminals.”

“Can we?” Kaplan rolled his eyes. “She’s just said we’re surrounded by hostiles who will kill us at the slightest misstep, we have no resources at the ready, no knowledge of how to hunt and gather, and you’re saying we’re no longer in a state of emergency? The Ark has never seen non-emergency. Every misstep is death, that hasn’t changed. So why are we willing to put up with our people committing acts against us now?”

“They’re children!” Kane sputtered. “You’re suggesting we leave children for dead?”

Kaplan grit his teeth. “We can’t afford the possible casualties of our people for the sake of a hundred criminals. Their age has granted them an extension on their lives, not a pass.”

“And you’re suggesting we ignore the previous Chancellor’s decision?” Kane snarled.

“Jaha’s decision was meant to apply to their reintegration into our society, until then, they are criminals and we will do no less to save their lives than we would if they were standing in the airlock!” Kaplan argued back.

Clarke whipped her head towards Lexa when she felt a twinge in her jaw. Lexa had her mouth clamped shut, her jaw jumping at the grinding of her teeth. “The Skaikru in that mountain may be criminals to you, but my people, the ones hanging from the ceiling like bleeding hogs are innocent. Some of them warriors sent to protect their clansmen, some of them hunters straying too close trying to feed their children, some of them guards, meant to hold the border steady and contain the Maunon. My people are not criminals. If you aide my people in freeing them, in which your children will be returned to you whether you want them or not- as they are your responsibility- I can guarantee all of your people’s lives. I’ll repeat, in the case I wasn’t clear enough, opposing us means death, bystanding means death, but an alliance will save us all.”

Clarke took comfort in her confidence. “This is our only opportunity to start over on the ground. We were foolish to think that we could just fall from the sky and live happily ever after.” Clarke spoke calmly, looking between Kane and Abby. “We save our people, release hers, and guarantee our safety, help to rebuild TonDC after we destroyed parts of their village, and then we can have our peaceful lives here on the ground.”

Abby hesitated for just a moment before nodding. “As acting Chancellor, in this situation I’m granted indefinite executive powers over the council, especially with the rest of our members missing or dead. Until stable times, I am the sole decision making power aboard the Ark, and with this power I’ve decided that we’ll ally with the Grounders in their war against Mount Weather.”

Clarke nearly slumped in relief. Kaplan grunted in disapproval but made no further objections. Lexa merely leaned back in her chair. Lexa had won so far, but they hadn’t negotiated the terms of their agreement, only that the possibility of agreement would be entertained. Kaplan still had the opportunity to stop them in their tracks.

“We’ll recess until the return of Anya and Raven, once they’ve arrived we will begin negotiation over the terms of our alliance.” Lexa was cool and reserved and Clarke had a feeling that they failed whatever test Lexa had put them through.

Kane pushed away from the table first. “I need to check on the progress the Guard is making. Call for me on the radio when I’m needed, Abby.”

Kaplan muttered something along the lines of consulting Ark doctrine as he scrambled from the room, leaving Clarke, Lexa, and Indra alone with Abby. “Clarke told me that the two of you escaped Mount Weather and were separated from Raven by cannibals.” Abby prompted.

Lexa nodded once. “This morning Clarke helped me to escape where they were testing my blood. We used the tunnels the Ripa live in to get out.”

“Ripa?”

“They are the cannibals you mentioned. Usually warriors or guards kidnapped and warped into shells of who they once were. The Ripa will eat the flesh of anyone they catch and maim, if they kidnap people without fatally wounding them, they deliver them to the Maunon to be bled.”

“Mom,” Clarke gained Abby’s attention. “They’re using the Grounders as essentially living blood bags for blood transfusions to treat radiation sickness.”

Abby furrowed her brows. “That’s not how that works…”

Clarke nodded. “I know, it doesn’t make sense. Monty said something about an allergy or intolerance.”

Abby shook her head. “I don’t know what that would solve with an allergy, unless they’re absorbing something-“

“I doubt any of this matters.” Indra snarled. “They are the enemy. We shouldn’t worry ourselves with why they do what they do, but with what they are doing and how to stop them.”

Lexa raised a hand to stop Indra from continuing. “It’s unlikely we’ll come to a diplomatic solution, your tek will not be used to help the Maunon wean themselves from my people’s blood. My people have given enough of themselves.”

Abby blinked. “We should know their motivation before we attack them, it helps to understand our enemy.”

Lexa scoffed. “There’s nothing to understand.”

Clarke was ready to open her mouth to argue when the four of them heard shouting from outside and the telltale pop of a gun. Clarke and Lexa were out of the room before anyone else could react.

Lexa followed Clarke through the labyrinth of the Ark, but as soon as they touched soil, Lexa was in the lead again, heading towards the shouting. “It’s Raven,” She snapped to Clarke.

“Anya’s hurt.” Clarke dashed forward, shoving panicky guards to the side to get to Anya.

The once proud warrior gasped for air on the ground, a puddle of her blood sinking into the ground below her. Raven was similarly covered in blood as she tried to stop its flow with every heartbeat.

Clarke dropped to her knees beside Raven and pushed her to the side. “Where’s my mother?” Clarke snapped to the trembling guard beside her. “Get Dr. Abby, now. If she dies so do we.”

The Guard scrambled away. Clarke glanced back to Raven, the girl making herself even smaller as she watched her soulmate edge ever closer to death. “Clarke, it hurts.” Raven whimpered.

Clarke nodded, pressing her hands into the wound in Anya’s side. “I know, but that’s good. It means she’s still alive.”

Anya finally seemed to gain some control of her breathing, but it hitched every few breaths as she struggled to tamp down the pain. “AI gonplei ste odon.” She muttered. “Ai gonplei ste odon. Beja.”

“Your people shot my general, Clarke.” Lexa stood to the side, watching with sad eyes as Clarke struggled. Abby appeared only a few seconds afterwards with a first aid kit at the ready. “Clarke, my people won’t tolerate this-“

“Commander, with all due respect this is a highly treatable injury. Once I’ve stabilized her, we’ll move her to the hospital wing and she’ll almost certainly survive. It was an accident; our people are scared and out of their depth.” Abby barked back, taking over from Clarke smoothly.

Lexa was clearly affronted, but faced with the possibility of Anya’s survival, she clamped her mouth shut and let Abby work. It only took a few minutes for Abby to stabilize the wound, and then with the help of two other guards, had Anya moved towards the Ark.

Lexa watched helplessly as they carried her second in command away. It took a moment of watching Lexa stare down the path Anya’s body had taken for Clarke to recognize the steady throbbing of pain in her chest, a different, faster heartbeat than her own. She had to admit, guiltily, that it was a comforting, familiar presence. She spent most of her childhood with Lexa’s pained heartbeat, and for the last few months, her own pain overwhelmed it, there was something comfortable about having it back. “Le-“

She was cut off by a whimper to her side. Clarke and Lexa both turned their heads to find Raven still curled on the ground, clutching at the same side Anya had been shot in. “Is she-“

“Yes.” Clarke murmured to the Commander as she kneeled to the ground beside Raven. “Raven, are you hurt? Ignore Anya, I need to know if you need treatment.”

Raven grunted. “Easier said than done, Princess.” Raven rolled to her back, letting out another hiss. “They’re putting in stitches now, in case you were wondering- ah!” Raven yelped. “Has Abby ever heard of anesthetics?”

Clarke smirked, exchanging a look with Lexa. “We don’t have much left. She’s trying to preserve them, and you know Anya wouldn’t accept it.”

“Unfortunately,” Raven grunted. “Is the alliance secured?”

Clarke looked to Lexa. The dark look on her face warned her of the dangers they were still in. “For the most part. Anya getting shot put a damper on things. But when she pulls through it completely we’ll be okay. We have to negotiate the terms still, Lexa wanted Anya to be present for that.”

“I don’t think Anya will be capable of standing at my side for negotiations.” Lexa sighed, squatting beside the two girls. “Titus will be arriving by tomorrow, he will stand in for Anya. Titus will have a lot of questions for the Skaikru, Clarke. Be prepared for the negotiations. I cannot, in good conscience, dismiss the warriors around this camp. They will hold through the night.”

Clarke nodded. “C’mon Raven, let’s get you cleaned up.”

Raven groaned and grunted as Clarke pulled her upright. “Thanks, Clarke.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, hey guys! Now we get to go back into my love for negotiations and arguments about boring politics stuff. Hopefully I can make it interesting for you guys. But as we all know, it can never be easy for these ladies. Anyway, enjoy the chapter and let me know what you guys think in the comments!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be studying

Dante and Cage Wallace stood before Dante’s desk, staring down at the two boys sat in front of them. “And you were not involved in this breach?”

Wells shook his head. “No sir. Clarke acted alone. We don’t know how she got out.”

Cage was practically spitting with rage. He resumed his cagey pacing before he whirled back to Wells. “I think you’re lying-“

“Back off.” Bellamy snapped, moving subtly. If Cage made a move, he would meet him with just as much force. Bellamy wasn’t above fist fighting a man threatening his friends. “We told you what we know, we told you the truth.”

Dante sighed. “She put everyone in this bunker at risk. She stole one of our greatest assets. You have to understand why we’re weary.”

Bellamy wouldn’t give him an inch, so Wells extended the olive branch. “I think this is a perfect opportunity.” Wells shifted again, sending a warning glance towards Cage. He uncrossed his arms and broadened his shoulders. “Here’s what we do, you send a couple of us, with due supplies, and we venture outside. We find Clarke and this asset of yours and retrieve them. We contact the Ark in person, gain their trust. Then when we return, we’ve proven our loyalty, and gained the essential information necessary for this merger.”

Bellamy tried not to swell too much with pride. Wells was damn good at this negotiation thing, maybe they should’ve sent him instead of Clarke to the Commander’s meeting table. “Let us prove to you that we can be trusted. This is an isolated incident. Let us make reparations.”

Cage scoffed at Dante’s growing grin. But Bellamy knew the person they needed was the senior Wallace. He had the official power, the true power. But Cage was getting to be a problem. Any more distrust between the two and Cage could be genuinely dangerous.

“I like this idea. We had no intention of testing you, but I think it’s only reasonably after this breach of trust. Prove that Clarke is in the minority and we can forget this happened. Who were you intending to send?” Dante clapped his hands, relaxing into his seat behind his desk.

Bellamy glanced to Wells. “We haven’t fully discussed this yet-“

“I’m going.” Wells interrupted. “Clarke and I were childhood friends. I can appeal to her, maybe convince her that she’s making a mistake leaving us here. We were also considering Finn Collins and John Murphy.”

“Just those three?” Dante asked. “We can accommodate that. Cage, go start gathering the rations they’ll need. This will be so much more efficient than sending the hazmats.”

Bellamy glared at Wells. “Sir, if you’ll excuse us, we should probably tell Finn and Murphy that they should prepare to go.”

Dante waved his hand. “Good idea, we’ll have a couple of officers escort you to the door in an hour. Thank you, boys.”

The two nodded and stiffly took their leave, passing an angry Cage Wallace on their way.

“You said I couldn’t go because we needed to be here.” Bellamy accused as they wound through the halls, trying to ignore the guards flanking them.

Wells shook his head. “I meant what I said. But you honestly think they’re going to trust two people they’ve never spoken to? Dante says he trusts us. We all know Clarke would physically fight you if you tried to get her to come back. She may not have caught on to the whole Jake Griffin conspiracy yet, but I still hold some weight.” Wells ran a hand along his neck. “I have access to a more emotional appeal. It makes the most sense to at least send me. Besides, I need to keep Finn on track.”

“And Murphy in line. Speaking of, what the fuck Wells?”

“You know Murphy will jump at the chance to get out as soon as possible. He causes more trouble in here than out there.” Wells sent Bellamy a look. “This is a time of increased tension. Take as many troublemakers with me where they have room to fuck up, and leave you with the ticking bomb. You can keep these people in line, but I want to take John what-is-authority Murphy and Finn. Finn’s gotten to be a problem, haven’t you noticed?”

Bellamy shook his head. “What’s he been up to?”

Wells stopped outside the door of the dormitories. “I caught him sleeping around a bit.” Bellamy shrugged. “He has a girlfriend, Raven. You know? Mechanic genius. That can cause some problems. We don’t have the time for petty teenage angst right now. I want to get him out of this situation so that maybe we can knock some sense into him. I don’t think he realizes what’s going on, how close to death we are.”

Bellamy ran a hand over his face. “When you find Clarke, look for my sister will you? Make sure she’s okay.”

Wells placed a hand on Bellamy’s shoulder. “Of course.”

Bellamy nodded and opened the door for the two to enter the dormitories and face their people together.

 

 

Lexa glowered at the head of the negotiating table, her eyes focused on Kane’s directly across from her. “Fayoguns are cursed weapons among my people.”

Clarke rubbed at her eyes. “We don’t know how to use anything else-“

“They’re superior weapons, Commander.” Kane matched coolly. “The difference is that you are afraid-“

“My people have been killed for centuries by the Maunon Men!” Lexa roared, standing to her feet. “For generations, my people have faced unending torment, torture at the hands of a people who wield these death machines!”

“You cannot expect us to reverse centuries of scientific and technological innovation!” Kane snarled back. Lexa was not used to such a bold tone of voice, but she was too angry to nitpick about respect and the place of the Skaikru. “It is the one thing that has kept us alive for so long!” Kane continued. “Taking this from us will make my people _hate_ you and yours. If you ever want a lasting alliance you cannot do this!”

Lexa slammed a hand on the table and glared at the man, surprisingly steadfast in his opinion. She hadn’t expected the Skaikru leader to be strong like this. This kind of strength was not taught to the common people of the clans. But the longer she stood glaring, she understood. “You will keep the other tek. The fayoguns will not be accepted. My people cannot separate your fayoguns from the terror of the Maunon. I would not expect them to.”

Kane shook his head. “My guards cannot protect my people without them.”

Lexa grit her teeth. “We compromise.” She was quieter then, glancing to Clarke. “The guns may not leave the premises of your camp. And when we have settled your territory, they are not to leave Skaikru lands. Those who take them into other territory will be punished under law of the Coalition.”

Kane bowed his head. “I can agree to that.”

Lexa tensed her jaw and glared off to the side. She didn’t want to compromise on this issue, her people were so terrified of the Maunon. But she couldn’t guarantee that there were other subjects to compromise on, the Skaikru hadn’t shown their full hand yet, and she needed to save her resolute stubbornness for when it was absolutely necessary. That’s what had gotten her so far, be generous with compromise, and when situation required, force the other hand. She could afford a small compromise here, because she couldn’t assume that later she would have the space to compromise again.

Clarke watched her, the fear of the Commander of the Twelve Clans having long since dissolved. No longer was she the fearful ruler of massive armies, but simply the girl she comforted years ago by squeezing her hand in the dark where no one could see. Lexa could see it in her eyes, she had startled Clarke with her outburst, but it fell away, quickly replaced with exasperation.

Lexa wanted to rage at her. Wanted to shake her, to scare her. To fight her off and send her away. She’d been planning this since her first kiss with Costia. Her Keryontai was not for her, she had Costia. But now? Even without Costia, Clarke would never be safe around Lexa. This singular girl, the one that fell from the sky and demanded respect for nothing but existing, held the key to the last of Lexa’s weakness. She knew the pain Costia brought, she knew just about every secret wound, and not only that, but her capture, her torture, would tear Lexa apart. She would feel every second, know every lash and cut and strike against the girl as it happened. And all Lexa could remember was the singular golden eye staring endlessly up from the burlap sack thrown to the floor before her bed.

And yet, Clarke wasn’t afraid. Not of Lexa, not of anyone else. Lexa couldn’t tell if this was because she was endlessly brave or endlessly stupid. She wasn’t afraid when Lexa played the brute and she wasn’t afraid when she told the truth. What would keep her away? What would keep her at arms’ length?

Lexa feared the answer.

But she didn’t have time to deal with the problem that was her Keryontai. “We need to find the other half of the Ark.” Kane steepled his fingers against his mouth as he leaned forward. “They fell north of here, from what I can recall.”

Clarke rubbed at her jaw uncomfortably, and Lexa realized the way her teeth ached with their clenching. She loosened her jaw as best she could. “They landed in Azgeda territory.”

Kane shook his head. “The Azgeda are members of your Coalition?”

“Azgeda?” Clarke was putting the pieces together, and Lexa was certainly not prepared for it.

“Sha,” Lexa sighed. “The Queen of the Azgeda is… savage to say the least. She does not tolerate invaders, and negotiating the safe passage of your people will be costly. If they are lucky, they will be enslaved. If they prove to be dangerous, she will simply kill them.”

“How long do they have?”

“Hours.” Lexa shrugged stiffly. “The Azgeda have no room for even ancient laws. Soul ties mean nothing to them. The only reason the Coalition tolerates their presence is because of their strength. They are a powerful, brutal people. The cost of punishing them would require too much blood.”

“Our survivalist experts are on that ship.” Kane pointed out. “We can’t just leave them to die.”

Lexa shook her head. “We have to choose between the Maunon and the Azgeda. Empires have fallen because of the foolish decision to fight two fronted wars. My Coalition will not be another forlorn legend told around campfires to teach children to die blindly for their leaders, as only the honorable warriors of generations past do.”

Kane tried to hide his frustration. “My people will not survive without them, they are our farmers and agricultural experts.”

“We need to pick our battles, Kane.” Clarke cut in. “We focus on the Maunon, go to war, get our people back and affirm our place in the Coalition. Then we have a case to force the Queen’s hand for a peaceful resolution. We can’t claim a legal right to our people until we’re seen as legal equals.”

Lexa nodded, finally sinking to her seat again, she had to admit, having an ally was a welcome change to negotiations. “I will send a rider with a message to Queen Nia about these people. But I cannot guarantee that my word alone will protect your people.”

“Thank you, Lexa.” Clarke ran a hand through her hair, sitting back in her chair in relief. “We should discuss national sovereignty.” Clarke sat back. “Azgeda has a Queen, and you’ve mentioned other clan leaders before. We expect national sovereignty as well. The rights to lead our people as we see fit, to make laws within our territory as we see fit -that are to be abided by at all times even as citizens of another clan visiting our territory- and the right to do what we feel necessary within our territory, whether that’s production and manufacturing or just agriculture.”

Lexa almost smiled, but she caught herself in time. “All of the clans started as separate sovereign entities before joining the coalition. You will have the protection of the coalition so long as you abide by our international laws. My jurisdiction lies solely in international matters, I will not be able to regulate internal matters, unless you require it of me until a suitable leader can be found.” Lexa rolled her shoulders, sending an apologetic glance towards Clarke’s answering wince. “That particular situation has occurred once or twice before, but I have no intention of becoming a tyrant or ruling your people.”

Kane drummed his fingers against the table. “And how do we ensure that we have claim to these rights? Do we just take your word for it?”

Lexa glared. “We have written laws. The leader of your people will take a brand and bow to me in acceptance of these laws.”

Kane’s eyes widened comically and Lexa had to curb her desire to roll her eyes. “I assumed that-“

“We were illiterate savages?” Lexa’s eyebrows rose, lip curling in a sneer. “You aren’t the first.”

“Make no mistake we are not like the Mountain Men.”

Lexa did roll her eyes at this point. She was tired of having this conversation. “We’re done here. We will get rest before Titus, our recordkeeper and Guardian of the Flame, arrives and we continue our discussions about the Skaikru and their relations to the Coalition.” Lexa stood and paused. “Clarke, I’d like to see Anya, would you take me to where she is being held?”

Clarke sprung to her feet. “Yeah, c’mon. I’ll see you tomorrow, Kane.”

Kane gave a half-hearted wave as they left the room.

“I’m sorry about… all of that.” Clarke winced, rubbing at her temples. “I thought Kane would have at least a bit more tact.”

Lexa straightened her back, clasping her hands behind her as she walked. “These things take time.”

“Time that we don’t have.”

Lexa sighed. “Clarke, I’m not going to kill your people because they assume that we cannot read.”

Clarke shifted uncomfortably. “Thanks?”

Lexa shook her head. “We will retrieve your people in due time. Anya will give me the information she has regarding the Maunon, and tomorrow we begin strategizing.”

“What about Titus? What do you need him for?”

“First, he is our recordkeeper.” Lexa glanced to the girl beside her. “This is historical. When we fell the Maunon, he will be charged with recording it. He also has access to archives from generations ago. You know nothing of Alie and Becca, but we must figure out the relationship between your people and my people’s history.”

“Who is Alie and Becca anyway?”

Lexa stopped walking, turning her gaze back to Clarke. “Becca was the first Commander of the Trikru. She was the first Natblida. She brought my people from darkness.”

“And she fell from the sky?”

“Sha,” Lexa nodded. “She never spoke of other people in the sky. At least, from what I know of the texts. Titus would know more.”

“What about Alie?”

Lexa’s gaze darkened. “Alie is a conspirator against the Commander. But she is not… easily detectable.” Lexa stepped closer. “Only Heda and those directly involved with Alie know who she is, what she is trying to do. It is Heda’s duty not just to rule their people but to keep Alie at bay.” Her voice lowered. “You cannot tell anyone of this, Clarke. It is dangerous, sensitive information. If Alie were to escape, if she were to take a solid form, or gain control of the right weak-willed person… everything could be destroyed.”

Clarke gaped. “And why shouldn’t other people know about this?”

Lexa rubbed at her face, an exhausted sigh escaping her lips. “Information is dangerous, Clarke. She could gain more power rather than lose it if other people were to know that the City of Light is real.”

“City of Light?”

“It’s where she is imprisoned. She cannot escape. But those who search for the City of Light and survive, those people are the most dangerous. They can travel to and from Alie, they do her bidding. They recruit.” Lexa crossed her arms. “If your people are friends of Alie, I would have to kill them.”

Clarke looked to the ceiling. “It feels like you’re looking for reasons to commit genocide.”

Lexa scoffed. “On the ground, you’ll learn, people cannot be trusted. It does not take much to be dangerous.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Long time no see! I did the math for my exam tomorrow and I can get anywhere between a 40% and 100% and still get the same damn letter grade so. Not bothering to study. Instead I wrote. I've been sitting on this chapter for awhile, mostly because I'm not all that happy with it. So I wrote a couple of scenes coming up a few chapters from now. I'll leave yall with a peek at the end of the note. I just don't know about this chapter. Also I'm fully aware Finn is a bit of a plot hole right now. I'm going to slap a bandaid on it later when it gets to that point. I just don't have the energy to care about Finn. Such a douche. I can't even make him better in fanfiction. Like Finn has ruined the name Finn for me. You can imagine my despair watching Star Wars now.
> 
>  
> 
> Sneak Peek!  
> “I am nothing, Anya.” Lexa spoke quietly, dully. “I am a vessel. Nothing else.” With each word, Lexa’s voice rose. “You know this. You open my veins and I bleed shadows. I am not human, not a person! I breathe and eat and live for the Coalition, for the Flame, for my people. I do not live for myself, for a Keryontai. I cannot afford myself feelings, or _honor _.”__


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I owe you guys an explanation, so be sure to read the end note.

Wells would be the first to admit, a gun in John Murphy’s hands made him nervous.

Murphy was too comfortable with that thing. He liked it too much, took too much pride in holding a weapon. But most of all, he hated Wells too much. Everything Murphy did was in Murphy’s best interest, and Wells feared what that meant.

But there’s nothing Wells could do with Mount Weather looming over their shoulders. Besides, his crime was minor, he’s guaranteed a free pass after the Ark fully assimilated in Mount Weather, but murder? There’s no guarantee how the criminal justice system would work. Did Mount Weather execute their criminals too? Would he be throwing away his life to guarantee the elimination of a threat?

Finn strolled at Wells side, smiling up at the overcast sky. “It’s weird not being able to see the stars.”

Wells glared. “Well, things are weird on the ground.”

Finn shrugged. “Miss the Ark?”

Wells heaved a sigh. “I guess? I miss when things were simple. Not as scary.”

Murphy scoffed. “Not scary for you maybe. The rest of us had to live under your father’s reign.”

“Not exactly my fault, Murphy.” Wells sneered. “Let’s just go. We have to get to the Ark by nightfall. Who knows what kind of animals out here come out at night.”

“The Grounders probably.” Finn shrugged.

Wells frowned, but refrained from commenting. “Do you think, Clarke, Raven, and Octavia will be there?”

“At the Ark? I don’t know.” Finn grunted. “The Grounders could have killed them by now.”

“If they wanted to kill us, they would have stormed camp days ago. But they kept a perimeter. The Commander didn’t have us killed. That has to mean something.” Wells grumbled as he tripped over a root.

“Does it?” Murphy called from behind. “They could be playing with us you know. Like those videos of the dogs playing with flies they caught. Cat and mouse, you know?”

“They’re territorial, not sadistic.” Wells snapped.

“You don’t know that.”

“Shut up, Murphy, would you?”

“Hey Wells, what if we just let Murphy go here, he gets out of the Mountain like he’s been begging to, and we get some peace and quiet, yeah?” Finn smiled.

Wells remained silent for a few minutes as they walked. “I don’t honestly care, let him go. The last thing we need is someone completely resistant to any type of authority.”

“Uh, Wells?”

“What is it Finn?”

“He’s already gone.”

“Good.”

 

 

Finn lasted an hour before he had to break the silence. “So, you into Clarke?”

“You know, the point of stealth is to be quiet.” Wells quipped.

“So that’s a yes.”

“No, I’m not into Clarke. She’s my best friend.”

“Huh, so she’s not your soulmate.”

Wells rolled his eyes, glaring straight ahead. “No, she’s not. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I mean. I don’t know.” Finn tossed his head back, that admittedly charming smile cutting crooked across his face. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “She’s cute. And brilliant. She’s our leader, and a good one at that. Keeps Bellamy in line. I can admire her desire for peace you know?”

“I’m fully aware of how great Clarke is. Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“Raven? Nah, I broke up with her, remember everyone got high off those nuts? Around then. Told her I found my soulmate. May have told her it was Clarke, but how else am I supposed to break up with her you know?”

Wells turned to Finn, eyebrows drawn, he couldn’t help the judgment in his tone. “You could, I don’t know, tell her you don’t want a relationship anymore. What the fuck, Finn?”

Finn shrugged, something like guilt crossing his features. It was the first time Wells had ever seen him regret anything. “Listen, Raven is my best friend, I love her. But like, she’s all I’ve ever known. We grew up together, and started dating a couple years ago, but now, like, I’m not in the Sky Box!” Finn grinned. “I have a chance, and I want to take it. I love Raven, but there’s more out here, you know? Maybe I’ll find my real soulmate.”

Wells shook his head. “I think that was a bad idea, man. Raven will be upset when she finds out.”

Finn nodded. “Yeah, well, she’ll get over it. Raven’s strong.”

“We should be there soon.” Wells grunted. “You should get your story straight, if the girls are here you’re going to face a firestorm.”

 

 

“Titus is my top advisor.” Lexa explained quietly at Clarke’s side as they watched the group of horses pluck their way across the meadow towards the Ark. “He is known as the Fleimkappa, or Flame Keeper. He guards the spirit of the Commander. His job is to carry the Flame from my body when I die, and give it to the next Commander after their ascension in the Conclave. I’ll explain that to you more later. Titus also serves as something of a record keeper. He has journals dating back to the first Heda, Commander Becca.” Lexa met Clarke’s eyes for a moment. “Becca fell from the sky, like you. And Titus will know more about who she was and where she came from. We need to know if the Ark contains any Natblida, and if your people contain the key to destroy Alie.”

“I don’t understand most of what you’ve said.”

Lexa cracked the smallest of smiles. “Titus will explain more. Titus can be… frustrating. He is distrustful of everyone, and he believes himself to be all-knowing. I- Titus has served as primary leader of our people for a long time, until I could wrestle the control of my people from him, he will likely respond with hostility if you are to challenge him directly. I will act as buffer as much as I can, but you will be seen as weak if you cannot keep up with him.”

Clarke arched an eyebrow, a slight twinge in her jaw told Lexa that she had annoyed the blonde. “I can handle myself.”

Lexa glanced away. “I know that, but Titus is not easily convinced. He responds to- well he doesn’t respond to anything well. You must deliver your logic forcefully. You cannot give him an inch, or he will take a mile. He is used to power and lenience. Don’t give him the chance to label you weak. You will find yourself dead by tomorrow.”

Clarke took a steadying breath, and Lexa was hit with the urge to comfort her. Of course, that urge accompanied a wave of frustration and anger at herself, but she was able to cover her hesitation as Titus dismounted from his mount.

Lexa strode forward, allowing her annoyance to show. “When I give orders for your immediate presence, fleimkappa, I intend for you to follow them with haste.”

Titus, for his credit, didn’t even flinch. “Heda, you requested my expertise regarding the history of the clans. The Journals slowed us considerably. They must be treated with great care.” He barely hid his own sneer. “If you wish me to confirm this alliance as a wise decision, I’m afraid, Heda, that I can’t do that.”

“Then it’s a good thing that this alliance is not up for discussion.” Lexa snarled, her shoulders tensing.

Clarke stepped forward to greet Titus, and his eyes slid disdainfully from Lexa to the other girl. “I’m Clarke Griffin, and this is the Ark. Commander Lexa tells us that you have questions regarding our survival in space.”

Titus pulled himself to his full height, glaring down the length of his nose. “Heda has sent word that your people have shot Anya kom Trikru.”

“It was an accident, we’re treating her in the hospital.”

Titus turned back to Lexa. “Ai nou wich em op. Em veida. Du emo na bilaik feisbona en de Kongeda.”

Lexa turned to Clarke, ignoring Titus entirely. “We should begin discussions. I will allow Titus time to unload his journals, we will meet in half an hour.”

Clarke nodded once, tossing a confused glance towards Titus. “We’ll talk later, Lexa. Titus.” Clarke nodded in a hesitant parting. Lexa could tell that Clarke was caught off guard, and probably a little offended.

Titus tutted his disapproval. “This alliance is foolish, Heda.”

“They fell from the sky, just as Becca did.” Lexa warned. “To ignore them, or exterminate them, would be foolish.”

“Gustus spoke of the Maunon, they got you captured!”

“Do you think me so incapable of leading that the Maunon Ripa could extract information from me?” Lexa snarled, stepping closer to Titus and lowering her voice so as not to be overheard. “They know nothing of our people beyond what they could discover on their own. Clarke is the reason I am alive and free.”

Titus tilted his head back and regarded Lexa coldly. “You care for her.”

Lexa’s eyes widened just a fraction before she could control her features once more. “I am perfectly capable of separating feelings from duty.” Lexa’s voice had grown so low, it was nearly a whisper. “I’d expect you to know this.” Titus showed no hesitation. “There is no weakness in my heart, Fleimkappa.”

Titus studied her closely. A breath and he was striding forward towards the Ark, Lexa pushed off of her toes to move fast enough to lead him, or at least appear to be leading him.

Lexa wanted to hate him, to despise him. But he was all she had ever known. He served the last Heda, and the Heda before him. Titus had experience and invaluable advice and control. He had loyalty, and most importantly, he taught the Natblidas. He was the man that shaped Heda from the very beginning.

But Lexa saw other sides to Titus. She knew he was power hungry, knew that his ego fueled him. She was not blind to the tiny moments of Titus’ defiance. But those tiny moments could cost Lexa her life. Titus was strong and dominant in his words and logic; his debate and argumentative skills were unparalleled. Lexa could keep up with him, but that was years and years in the making.

Even now, Lexa walked into every argument with Titus unsure of who would walk out victorious. Titus tore through logical error and ill-advised decisions like an Azgeda hunting dog does a rabbit. But when he couldn’t find a chink in the armor, he simply battered it with passion and anger until he could wear down his opponent.

More often than not, that opponent was Lexa.

Lexa was forced to admit, without Titus, she would have far less control over her dominion, her people. She would not be the skilled negotiator and strategist she was, though some of that credit went to Anya.

No, without Titus she would not be Heda Lexa, Commander of the Coalition. But with Titus, she ran the risk, every minute, of revealing the tension between her and her top advisor.

She wanted to hate Titus for the vulnerabilities he forced upon her. The way he undermined her power by dismissing himself from her presence, by leading the way across rooms and down halls, by trying to force her to follow him as if she were still the Natblida child trying to keep up as he taught.

Titus made her this way, but because she resisted, not because he wanted her this way.

And so, Lexa wanted to hate him.

As Lexa moved to enter the Ark, there was a commotion, and calls for her attention had her whipping around and stalking towards two young men struggling in the grips of a few of her warriors.

“Heda, emo laik Skaikru.”

“Let us go!” One struggled harder than the other, his greasy, long hair hanging in his face, stringy with sweat and dirt. “Where’s Clarke?”

That question gave Lexa a brief pause; she looked to the other man. He stared at her levelly, a calm, observant gaze settling over her face. Lexa was given the distinct feeling that this man was not surprised by the presence of her people surrounding his own. “Commander.”

“Would you let us go? Fuck! We belong here!”

Lexa no longer needed to spare a glance to the other man, he was not in charge. “You are Skaikru? You have also escaped the Maunon?”

The man shook his head. “My name is Wells Jaha. I need to speak with the Chancellor, and Clarke. I know she’s here. She stole an asset from Mount Weather.”

Lexa turned her head just slightly. “Your allegiance is with the Maunon?”

Wells grit his jaw and raised his chin in defiance. “No,”

“Speak true.”

“We aren’t with Mount Weather. We want to help Clarke and the Ark free our people.”

Lexa hesitated, but with a gesture of her hand, the two men were released.

“Finally,” The other man looked to Lexa, glanced at her up and down. “So where is Clarke anyway? Do you know Raven? Is she okay? What about Octavia?”

Lexa didn’t like this one. “All of them are well. You will find Raven in the hospital.”

His eyes widened comically. “What happened to her?”

Lexa sent a sidelong glance towards Wells. “She is in the hospital with her Keryontai. Anya was shot. Raven rests with her. It’s… taxing to feel a Keryontai in pain.” Lexa left the two to pick her way back towards the Ark. “Wells, come with me.”

Wells jogged to catch up with Lexa, her long strides serving their purpose. She had control, they both knew that, now, if she could master this tactic with Titus…

“What’s a Keryontai?”

“I believe the word you use is ‘soulmate’.” Lexa answered calmly. “My Trikru general Anya will protect your friend. There is no need to worry for her.”

Wells nodded slightly. “Don’t mind Finn. He’s dug his own hole.”

Lexa hummed an acknowledgement that he had spoken, but did little to respond properly. Wells gave off the aura of ease, and Lexa had to commend him for that. He was more comfortable with his role than any other Skaikru Lexa had met so far.

When they entered the negotiating room, they found the Skaikru leadership already there. A lance of pain shot through Lexa’s chest as Wells stood beside her, but it was gone in seconds. Clarke stood from her seat and rushed over, throwing her arms around the man Lexa had led in.

Wells, for his part, was quite shocked at Clarke’s reaction. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Clarke murmured before separating from him and avoiding all eye contact with anyone in the room.

Lexa could feel pain reignite in her chest, like the slow squeeze of her lungs until the pain was something she could no longer ignore. But Clarke was avoiding Lexa’s eyes too.

It wasn’t her place. She needed to keep her distance. It didn’t matter.

Wells cleared his throat as he surveyed the room. “Where’s my dad?”

The room seemed to stop. A feeling of dread filled the pit of Lexa’s stomach as the council members looked to each other to answer the question. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.

It was Abby that stepped to the mantle. She stood and led Wells to one of the seats. “Wells, your father- There was an error when the Ark tried to launch. It could only exit orbit if someone stayed behind to manually operate the machinations. Thelonious volunteered. He was a hero.”

Wells blinked rapidly, and Lexa watched as slowly but surely tears streamed down his face. He hid his face behind one of his hands, let out a single sob before he took a breath and held it. When he let it out, his breathing was shaky and uneven, but he was in control of himself again. He looked back up to the group around him and nodded. “Okay,” His voice broke in agony. “Okay.” He managed another few moments before he turned back to Lexa. “I need a minute. I-“ He didn’t finish his sentence before he was up out of the chair and through the door once more.

Abby wiped the tears from her own face and sat back, eyeing Lexa warily. “I apologize, he deserved to know.”

Lexa bowed her head, sneaking another glance at a pale faced and somber Clarke. “Hopefully, with this alliance, we can prevent the loss of many more fathers.”

Clarke finally lifted her eyes to meet Lexa’s, her eyes shone brighter than Lexa had ever seen them before, complimented by the red rim of her eyes. Lexa averted her gaze. “Titus will be ready soon.” Lexa turned towards Abby. “Anya must be present.”

Abby shook her head vehemently. “No, she needs to rest. She was shot yesterday. She needs time to heal.”

The door opened again, and Raven shuffled in, looking a little worse for wear, followed by a devastated Wells. Titus shoved his way through the doorway just after Wells, holding three dusty, two-inch thick tomes in his arms.

“Everyone is present?”

“Let’s begin.” Abby pulled her chair closer to the table, pulling a set of papers towards her chest. Lexa could spy several different sets of handwriting on them. “We need to discuss Mount Weather and our role in the assault. As well as the military presence surrounding the Ark, and provisions.”

Titus leaned forward to address the Chancellor, narrowing his eyes. “First, we should discuss Pramheda Becca.”

Abby tilted her head, her lips thinning in irritation. “Who is this Becca we should know of?”

Lexa sighed, leaning onto her elbows. “Becca was the first Commander of the Trikru. She fell from the sky, like the Ark.”

Kaplan shook his head. “No one before us has been launched from the Ark.”

“I have Becca’s journals.” Titus opened one of the tomes, flipping through the papers reverentially. “She mentions Polaris. The north star, but not. She isn’t talking about navigation.”

Abby glanced between Kane and Kaplan, and then towards Clarke, Raven, and Wells. “The details of Polaris are classified.”

This garnered surprised reactions from the three younger occupants of the room. But Lexa shook her head. “That won’t do Chancellor. This is of upmost importance to our people. You come from the same place as my earliest predecessor.”

Abby lifted her chin. “Polaris was destroyed two months after the bombs decimated humanity. They were noncompliant and threatening towards the twelve other stations. They had to be eliminated to prevent unnecessary deaths. That is all of the information we can tell you.”

Lexa tilted her head. “I don’t think you understand Chancellor. As a future clan, you will not want to be found noncompliant and threatening to the twelve other clans here on the ground. What did this Polaris station do?”

Kane shifted. “Abby, if we can’t be transparent with them, how can we build a strong alliance with them?”

Abby stared at him a beat longer than necessary, taking a steadying breath. When Abby faced Lexa once more, she was stone-faced. “It was nuclear bombs that destroyed the planet. But before that, humanity was not in a great place; a worldwide cold war gripped most developed nations.” Lexa nodded for her to continue, not quite familiar with some of the terms she used, but not willing to interrupt her as she was finally giving the information Lexa needed. “Twelve countries launched thirteen satellites into orbit. Japan, China, Russia, Australia, America, the United Kingdom, France, Uganda, Venezuela, India, Canada, and Brazil.” None of that made any sense, but Lexa nodded along anyway. “America launched two of them. One of those satellites was Polaris station. Polaris was a science based station, their mission was to study better ways to gather intelligence and transmit signals across long distances without other nations finding out. The other stations, at least half of them, were war waging stations. Several nations launched nuclear weapons into space, allowing them to increase their range. There were other research based stations, luckily. We wouldn’t have survived without a majority of the bio stations.”

Abby seemed to end her story there. “So, what happened to have Polaris destroyed? Who was Becca and how did she escape?” Lexa prodded.

Abby rubbed at her temple. “Polaris was unresponsive towards prompts to negotiate. Alpha station pled and threatened, but there was no response. They were forced to eliminate the station.” Abby paused a moment. “However, there are eyewitness accounts -never confirmed- that a dropship was deployed before impact.”

“And what of Becca?”

Kane leaned forward. “Alpha station ordered the procurement of the files of all of the people on the station. Some three hundred people launched in space, most spoke one or two languages, but never the same ones. Alpha wanted to access the skills and mental health records of everyone on board. And in doing so, they also found the records of Polaris station members. There is a Becca, she was an engineer, specialized in artificial intelligence. She had a background in genetics, I remember because I thought it was an interesting combination. But there’s nothing we can do about re-accessing her files while the Ark mainframe is down.”

“Forgive me, but how does one gain artificial intelligence?” Lexa asked glancing towards Clarke, but finding no confusion in the other girl.

Clarke gave her a half smile. “Artificial intelligence is essentially the algorithms programed into computers and robots that allow the machine to learn from its environment. This ability to spot and process patterns allows it to predict future outcomes, giving it the semblance of human intelligence. It’s exceedingly difficult, most people on the Ark don’t bother with it much.”

“Yeah, us in mechanics and engineering have other things to worry about like oxygen recycling and water filtration.” Raven added. “I think AI is just some sci-fi disaster waiting to happen.”

“So, you can make your tek learn like people do?” Lexa furrowed her brows. “How successful have you been in creating intelligence?”

Raven shrugged. “Not particularly, but your Becca may have made some chess playing robots or something.”

“Wait,” Clarke held a hand. “Solid form,” She mumbled. “Lexa, what exactly is Alie?”

Titus’ eyebrows raised severely as he set the full force of his glare on Clarke. “How do you know of Alie?”

Lexa waved him down. “An entity. She has no solid form, she has been plotting against Heda for generations.”

Clarke turned towards the council. “Do you think maybe Alie is an AI? Maybe Becca built her to preserve some of history after the bombs?”

“I don’t think Alie was ever a name on any of Becca’s files.” Kane shrugged.

“Does it matter?” Raven asked. “I mean, listen. There has to be a power source, right? What’s running this thing? Seems to me like we’re talking about crap that’s never going to affect us.”

Lexa exchanged looks with Titus and Clarke. “If that’s all of the information available at the moment, we’ll move on to the Maunon.”

“Great!” Raven leaned forward, a wide grin on her face. “I have some ideas.”

It was Lexa’s turn to pause in surprise. “You do?”

Raven’s smile didn’t diminish in the slightest. “Listen, I told Anya all of this, but you’re the commander and all, and Abby is the Chancellor now so it’s time to get serious.” The glint in her eye rather impressed Lexa, she nodded for Raven to continue. “We jumped off a dam. Remember that Clarke? Most terrifying moment of your life, right?”

Clarke pursed her lips in agreement. Personally, Lexa hadn’t thought much of the jump. But she supposed Clarke didn’t swim much in space. “Get to the point, Raven.”

“The dam is Mount Weather’s main power source. If we blow it, we could probably buy a few seconds to open that vault door.”

“And what do we do about the poison fog?” Lexa retorted. “We can’t get close with the fog.”

“There’s poison fog?” Abby asked incredulously.

Lexa nodded once. “It melts the skin of the people caught in its path. The Maunon deploys it when large groups of people get close to their coward’s nest. We will need to stop them from deploying the fog before we can exterminate them.”

Wells leaned forward. “Listen, I think we should try negotiating first-“

“Out of the question.” Lexa and Clarke spoke in unison.

Wells raised his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright. Okay. If there’s no making peace with Mount Weather, we still have people in the Mountain. Bellamy is there, and last time I talked to them, he was in good standing. If we can get in touch with him, he can be our inside man. Shut the acid off from inside.”

“How do we do that then?” Clarke leaned forward, raising her eyebrows in question.

“Finn,”

“Finn’s here?” Raven gasped. “Nobody told me?”

“I thought he was meeting you in the hospital.” Wells shrugged. “Anyway, they sent me with Murphy and Finn to negotiate an alliance between Mount Weather and the Ark. But I’d personally like to live till the end of the week, so I’ll do whatever needs to be done. Murphy disappeared. But we can send Finn in, say we were attacked, the Ark was attacked. Have Finn deliver a message, or a system of communication, to Bellamy.”

“We’re gonna send Finn back in there?” Raven glared at Wells. “Why don’t you go then? Or would you rather volunteer other people for risks you’re not willing to take?”

“Raven,” Abby warned.

“I get you’re hesitant.” Wells soothed. “But they will suspect me.” He glanced towards Lexa and back to Raven. “They consider Clarke, Bellamy, and I in charge of the delinquents. They don’t think Finn is very important. We need to utilize that.”

Raven scoffed. “You really want to send him in there?”

Kaplan rolled his eyes. “And why should we be concerned?”

Raven crossed her arms, leaning back from the table to glare at the other occupants of the room. “He’s delusional.”

“He’s not.” Wells shook his head. “He’s an idiot, no doubt. But he’s not delusional.”

“No,” Raven snarled. “You don’t understand. He thinks Clarke is his soulmate. Those nuts screwed with his head.” Lexa struggled to hide her surprise at this revelation, and even worse, the feeling of jealousy settling in the pit of her stomach.

Wells shut his eyes and heaved sigh. “He knows it’s not true. He was talking about it earlier today. You need to talk to him.”

“Now is not the time to be discussing lovers’ spats.” Titus spat caustically.

Clarke buried her face in her hands. “Why’d he have to involve me?” She muttered into her palms.

Lexa could feel the beginnings of a headache press in on her temples. She wasn’t quite sure if it was hers or Clarke’s, but either way, it was distracting. “This is unnecessary. I will leave it to the Skaikru leadership to decide who to send and how to communicate with our spy.” Lexa interrupted Raven as she opened her mouth to insult Titus. “We will plan the assault on the Maunon in the coming days while Clarke, Wells, and anyone appointed to aid them will orchestrate this Bellamy in the enemy hive. He will gather intelligence and then, when we are prepared, disable the fog. In the meantime, Titus, Abby, Clarke, and I will negotiate and record the terms of the Skaikru membership as a clan in the coalition. I assume the Skaikru will want to appoint Kane and Kaplan to organize and settle your people? This is not my decision, but it doesn’t matter. I suggest Skaikru begin preparations for war, the manufacture of weapons and training of your warriors is of utmost importance. Indra will act as General in Anya’s stead, Trikru warriors will train alongside Skaikru warriors to ensure seamless battle. Titus, send riders to Polis, tell them that I am declaring war upon the Maunon, and that I call upon the armies of the twelve clans to assist.” Lexa stood from her chair to begin a slow, thoughtful pace before the table. “Will that be all for this meeting?”

Abby shook her head. “We need to discuss provisions. The stations that crashed in Azgeda were our main agricultural sector, we have very few rations left. The Arkers won’t be able to fight without eating for weeks on end.”

Lexa pursed her lips, allowing herself three slow steps in either direction as she steepled her fingers. A furrow in her brow, she weighed her options. If she ordered the TonDC villagers to provide not only for their villagers, but also for a thousand foreign peoples who invaded their territory and scared their game, then the villagers and warriors of TonDC would grow impatient and resentful of their closest neighbors. If she ordered her Trikru warriors she ran the risk of undertraining her warriors in the crucial few days before a major battle in order to provide for twice as many people, many of whom could not pull their own weight.

But again, the Skaikru were invaluable, and she promised protection and provision. Choosing not to provide for them would sour their entrance into the coalition and hamper their proficiency with their tek and superior weaponry. The Skaikru was their only opportunity to remove the threat of the Maunon. Anything she did ran the risk of demoralizing her troops and dampening trust in her own leadership, all in the single most important moments of one of the most important wars Lexa will ever wage in her lifetime. Victory over the Maunon would cement Lexa’s position as the single, all powerful head of the Coalition, and would elevate the Trikru beyond the Commander’s favored clan. She could not fumble this opportunity because she put faith in a people weakened by starvation.

“Very well. I will have civilian villagers of TonDC teach non-warring Skaikru the skills necessary to survive and provide for their clan.” Lexa sighed softly. “Your people as members of the coalition will need to provide for yourselves. That includes hunting, and the new establishment of agriculture. TonDC will provide aid until you are fully independent. Titus, ensure this is done. Until then, your people will be fed by the combined generosity of the people of TonDC and my warriors stationed here.”

Kane bowed his head. “Thank you, Commander. Our people will not forget your generosity.”

“This meeting is dismissed. We will develop and employ strategies in the coming days.”

“Sha, Heda.” Titus sounded dully, glancing about the room in irritation when the sentiment was not repeated by the other members of the council.

The council, plus Wells, Raven, and Clarke, slowly stood and filtered their way through the door.

“Clarke,” She hadn’t even meant to say her name. She didn’t know what she wanted to say or do, but Lexa could hear her own voice, far quieter, far softer than she’d ever intended, leave her lips without her permission.

Clarke stopped, raising an eyebrow at the Commander. She paused to allow everyone else to leave, most unaware of the changing tension in the room. Clarke took a single step back towards Lexa and waited. Whatever it was that would happen, it was entirely on Lexa.

Her eyes slid away from the challenging blue stare, fixing instead on the wall to Lexa’s right, this way, Clarke couldn’t see her, right?

“I, um, I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Her hand automatically coming up to rub at her throat and chest, for just a second, the constricting pain in her chest lightened. “I’m sorry. It’s not my place.”

Clarke huffed the slightest hint of laughter. “If it’s anyone’s…” She trailed off, leaving Lexa once again to close the conversational distance.

Lexa fidgeted. She was a child again, fidgeting and squirming in front of a pretty girl she shouldn’t be talking to, foolishly close to ignoring her duty for some fleeting feeling in her chest. “I am… hesitant.” Lexa stopped, crossing and uncrossing her arms. “This, this could get both of us killed.”

“It’s not exactly something we can avoid. We’ve tried ignoring it.”

“Not really, but-“

“Not the point.” Clarke ran a hand through her hair, nodding. “Yeah.” They stood in an awkward silence, awkwardly avoiding each other’s eyes, awkwardly shifting and fidgeting. “So, what do we do?”

Lexa shrugged. “I maintain that no one can know.”

“And?”

“I don’t know.” Lexa sighed, taking her seat once more. “I’ve never- I don’t know.”

Clarke sighed. “Alright, we’ll wing it.”

Lexa attempted a small smile. “I’m not much help when it comes to this sort of thing.”

Clarke grinned. “I can tell.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so first of all, I'm sorry. So I gave y'all an extra long chapter to make up for the horrible wait. I know I promised that this summer would have updates because I'd have time, but then shit happened.  
> And so here's what that shit was. The beginning of the summer, I traveled out of the country, and then across the country, and then back. Essentially, for the month of June, I couldn't do much writing because I was rarely settled anywhere with my laptop. Well, June is also kind of the latest time most places are summer hiring :/. I spent the summer unemployed. I had the opportunity to work out 10-15 hours a week at the dojo which would build me up wonderfully for my upcoming 3rd degree black belt test, and it went well at first, until about mid July when I hit a major depressive episode.  
> Anyone with a mental illness can understand the way depression (and any illness) can completely disrupt your life, and destroy any healthy coping mechanisms, thought processes, and control over your life. I spent a week nearly entirely despondent before I could pick myself up and do something. This entire chapter was written in the last three days. Before the beginning of this week I hadn't written a single word all summer.  
> I'm not looking for sympathy or pity because honestly, I'm in a better place right now with school coming up and a reason to live again, but I think my readers deserve to know that what kept me from writing and updating was beyond my control and that while I was in a dark place for the last month or so, there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm feeling better. I appreciate the continued support for this story, and any also interested over in OotS, and I want you all to be assured that this story will not be abandoned.  
> Thanks so much guys. Let me know what you think of those Clexa moments, or by all means share your headcanons cuz like, this story is nothing but my headcanons lol.
> 
> Also also, I did some Lexa portraits like two months ago, would anyone be interested in seeing them?


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lost count of the chapters in the word doc I type this in so this chapter is titled "Chapter Fuck" and I think that's hilarious. I laugh at my own jokes, I'm not ashamed to admit that.
> 
> So I have several portraits of Lexa that I figure I might as well throw up here. But there are so many I'm only gonna put one per chapter. I hope y'all like them, keep in mind I hate just about every one of them, except for the one attached to this chapter. It's my favorite :)
> 
> Another note about the portraits, they're all done on lined paper (I do them in class lol) and in ballpoint pen. Nothing fancy you know, just notebook paper and pen. But that means they're not very clean, so forgive me.

Their meeting ended, and despite caustic glares sent his way, Wells and Raven shuffled awkwardly down the hall in the same direction. Wells cleared his throat. “Um, I just, I wanted to apologize, about all that in there.” He began, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just. You understand, right?”

Raven raised her chin. “Yeah, I do. I just don’t like it.”

Wells hesitated, this would be a gamble, but he needed someone on his side. He grabbed Raven’s elbow and pulled her aside, down a hallway so crumbled and destroyed that passage any further would be dangerous. “Listen, Mount Weather is impossible to destroy.” Wells stepped in closer so that he could be heard even at a whisper. “They’ve got an impenetrable bunker. I have no idea how Clarke managed to get out, but she stole something from them.” Raven’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, but before she could respond, Wells pushed on. “That’s not the point though, they have advanced weaponry that we can’t possibly match without better technological infrastructure. They have missiles that can levy entire towns and we have what amounts to bows and arrows and pipe bombs. We go to war with Mount Weather and we won’t win.”

Raven’s hostile body language melted away, Wells could see the slight widening of her eyes, the way her jaw slackened. She didn’t actually believe they could win a war by taking out a dam, did she? “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that an alliance with Mount Weather is the best possible option for us.”

Wells expected shock, but he didn’t expect disdainful laughter, he took a step back. “Are you serious? We are literally surrounded by armed warriors, twice over. Every distinct civilization in a five hundred mile radius from here is allied and ready to kill us should the Commander say the word, and you want to ally with the one group of people with no allies, who can’t even step outside?”

Wells rolled his eyes. “Alright, say we ally with the Grounders, and we do defeat the Mountain. What do we do then? Take a step back in the advancement of civilization? Raven, your whole job, literally, is to innovate. Your expertise is designed for space. You are a mechanic that specializes in electrical circuits and electricity. What are you going to do once we take that technological step back? In Mount Weather, you’d be invaluable. A brilliant mechanic, _and_ you can step outside? We need you, the Grounders? They’ll think you’re a threat.”

That gave Raven pause. “What are you going to do?”

Wells wasn’t stupid. “Think it over. If you decide you want to help us, I’ll explain to you my plan.”

Raven nodded. Wells didn’t follow her as she turned down the hall and marched away, fiddling with her necklace.

 

 

Raven wasn’t stupid. She knew that she ran the risk of becoming extraneous when they allied with the Grounders. They survived for a century without the technology that she was expert in, and Anya had mentioned that they were hesitant to ally with a people that used guns the way that they did. That suggested to her that the Arkers would need to make sacrifices in order to ensure assimilation into the Grounder culture. But would that go so far as to completely make her useless?

“You think too hard.” A voice startled Raven from her thoughts.

Raven didn’t remember walking into the hospital, let alone taking a seat next to Anya’s bed and crossing her arms. But yet, she was here, and Anya was being a pain. “Not my fault it takes extra concentration to think through _your_ concussion.”

The other woman’s grin was unexpected, but not wholly unwelcome. “It’s hardly my own fault.”

Raven shrugged, fighting her own smirk as she lounged back into her shitty metal chair. If she stretched her legs out, she could rest the back of her head on the backrest of the chair. The lights burning into her eyes helped to block out some of her more distracting thoughts. “Do you have mechanics in Trikru?”

“Mechanics? What do they do?”

Raven shrugged a shoulder, frowning. Now she had to readjust to find that comfortable spot again. “They build things, make things easier. They invent sometimes. Fix stuff.”

Anya grunted. “I’m not sure. We have builders and architects.”

Raven heaved a sigh. “Yeah, I figured.”

Silence settled between them. Raven had to admit, she liked that. They could just sit in silence or they could bicker or tease each other, or just chat. Nothing seemed to bother Anya. Her detachment was refreshing.

“You are wondering about your place in our society.” It wasn’t a question really, not even a prompt for further explanation, a flat statement. Raven couldn’t tell what it meant. Maybe she just didn’t have the energy to insert inflection into her own voice.

Raven didn’t bother moving, or vocalizing a response for that matter.

“It shouldn’t matter.”

“Well it matters to me!” Raven snarled, glaring at the other woman’s profile.

Anya rolled her eyes. “You’ll find your new place eventually.”

“Eventually,” Raven scoffed. “And until then I’ll be a helpless freeloader. Yeah, I’m sure your people like that about as much as mine do.”

Anya shrugged, and Raven could feel the stitches tug in her own chest. “It’s true that each person in a village must do their share, but that’s not to say that each person does not also benefit from the group. The idea is that, while the hunters hunt and the farmers farm and the warriors gather and train, the pregnant woman can have her child, the injured and sick can heal, the children can play. Not everyone is as useful as their neighbor on any given day. We hold each other up. You will find a way to be useful. You’re too stubborn not to.”

Raven grunted, bringing her arms up to rub at her temple. “Is that my headache or yours?”

“Yours.”

“Fuck Wells,” She groaned out.

“Who is that?”

“One of Clarke’s old friends. I don’t know. I shouldn’t talk about it.” Anya didn’t prod, but something didn’t sit right with Raven. “It was weird though.”

“I thought you shouldn’t talk about it?” There was a teasing lilt to her voice, but she wasn’t shutting Raven down.

“It’s just. Okay, so there’s something up between Clarke and Wells, that much I know. But Wells is trying to go behind her back. Get us to ally with the Maunon. I don’t think he trusts Trikru.”

“He is a natrona. He should be killed.” Anya grumbled.

“No, I definitely should not do that.” Raven shook her head. “It’s just. I think he knows that I wouldn’t ally with him. I think he tried to distract me enough into agreeing with him.”

“Is that what this existential crisis was?”

“I mean, yeah, but it’s not like I wasn’t already thinking it. He’s good.” Raven furrowed her brows. “Really good. It’s like he can read weaknesses like a damn book.”

“What is he planning to do?”

“I don’t know yet. He wouldn’t tell me. Wanted to make sure I would side with him when the time comes.”

Anya’s hand reached out, locking it around Raven’s wrist. Raven jolted, turning to find hazel eyes harsh and unyielding. “You have to get him to trust you. If he can sow doubt into you, he can be dangerous. If the Skaikru begin to doubt Lexa, this could end her, and your people.”

Cold dread filled her chest as she stared in surprise at Anya. She was an intense person, but she wasn’t normally this harsh. But Raven supposed it was to be expected. Anya clearly cared for Lexa, she had raised the Commander herself, and she had just gotten her back from the dead. Raven could understand. “He wants to send Finn back into the Maunon.”

“Finn, your boyfriend?”

“Ex,”

“That is a dangerous move.”

“That’s what I said, but everyone else seems to like it. Finn would take a communication device with him to Bellamy.”

“And Bellamy is that man, the one who holds contempt for Clarke?”

“The very same.”

“I’m assuming Bellamy’s loyalties do not lie with Clarke and the Commander?”

“That would be a fair assumption. But that doesn’t explain why Wells trusts him more than his childhood best friend.” Raven steepled her fingers, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. “There’s something else going on there too.”

“Something drastic must have happened to change his loyalties from someone he cared for to someone he barely knew.”

There was a heavy pause before Raven blew out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “They’re soulmates. Holy shit.”

Anya blinked in surprise. “It makes sense.”

“Think about it, Wells was and still does follow Clarke like a puppy even though she hates him for some reason, until something threatens the safety of the people inside Mount Weather. Because, even if our ideal plan works seamlessly, there are going to be casualties. Bellamy being the sole source of leadership in the Mountain makes him a target. Wells would want to alleviate pressure on him as much as possible to ensure his safety if Bellamy had a connection to Wells a little beyond just friends. They gotta be soulmates.” Raven caught herself making wild hand movements as she spoke, bringing them to her lap sheepishly.

Anya didn’t seem to acknowledge Raven’s sudden embarrassment. “In that case, Wells is a lost cause. There will be no converting him.”

“So, we just, let him fuck up the alliance?”

Anya nodded. “Talk to Lexa. Talk to me. If we know what he is doing it will be easier to make sure he doesn’t accomplish what he wants.”

 

The Commander of the Coalition struck an intimidating silhouette against the bright lights of the hospital. Anya would perhaps never get used to the sharp cheekbones and confident brow of the girl that used to be too gangly and small for her own clothes. She had beaten pride and dignity into the scrawny little thing, turned a child who loathed authority figures into the embodiment of authority. Perhaps this would be Anya’s crowning achievement.

“Shopta, Onya.”

Anya brought her arm up to greet her Commander. “I’ll be ready for the assault.”

Lexa scoffed. “Yu na nou jomp in dison.”

“Skrish, I’m fine.”

“You are hurt. I don’t need a dead general, I need a live one. Reivon would agree.”

Anya clenched her jaw. “Yu nou na lan op ai keryontai gon ai.” There was once a time when that tone of voice struck fear in Lexa’s heart, but that time was long gone. Lexa only rolled her eyes.

“You will tell her then. I’d like to see how that turns out.”

“I am my own person, I make my own decisions.” Anya grumbled.

“You cannot say she has no influence on your decisions. It is difficult to separate yourself from feelings when your keryontai is involved.”

Anya narrowed her eyes. “Who is it then?”

“Who is who then?”

“Yu keryontai.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “You act like I don’t know you best. Who is it? Is it Skaikru?”

“Sha.”

“Who?”

“Clarke,” Lexa rubbed along her jaw, avoiding all eye contact with her former mentor.

Anya had nothing to say, for perhaps the first time in her life. And yet, instead of satisfying, Lexa found it unnerving. “Clarke,”

“Sha,”

“Who knows?”

“You, the both of us.”

“That is all?”

“Sha,”

“Keep it that way.”

Lexa rolled her eyes, and Anya had to suppress the urge to whack the side of her head. Some habits refused to die. “I learn from my mistakes, Onya.”

Anya raised her chin, watching her former seken, the way she shifted and ground her teeth. Yes, this was certainly her crowning achievement. “We have a lot to discuss.”

Lexa pulled a chair closer to Anya’s bed and took a seat with a heavy sigh. “We do. I’ve called upon the armies of the Twelve Clans. TonDC and the Trikru warriors already here will help provide food for the Skaikru. Raven has a plan to open the door of the Maunon bunker. Clarke and Wells are working on a system to communicate with a spy in the Maunon.”

“Wells, he is a natrona.”

“Wells? He’s Clarke’s friend.”

“Sha, and he is attempting to organize against you.” Anya’s lip curled in disgust and anger. “He asked Raven to help him organize a truce with the Maunon.”

“And Raven?”

“She agreed to keep an eye on him. To allow him to entrust her with his plans. Raven is loyal.”

“You put a lot of trust in this girl you’ve just met.”

Anya scowled. She wished that her glares still scared Lexa the way they did when she was a child, but Lexa learned the trick herself. Anya would have to live her life strung between exasperation and pride.

Lexa gave away her own game as the grin overtook her face. “I’m happy for you, fos.”

Her sincerity only ruffled Anya more. “Whatever, we need to discuss what you will do with him.”

Lexa sat back quietly for a moment. “He’ll continue his own path. It stays between the three of us. You will not, under any circumstances, tell Titus-“

“That’s hardly a problem.”

Lexa’s lips twitched as she moved on, ignoring Anya’s interruption. “Titus does not believe we can trust the Skaikru. Give him a reason and he will do everything he can to sabotage this alliance.”

“Kill him.”

“You know that I cannot afford to lose the Fleimkappa right now.”

“You should have killed him years ago.”

“The time will come, Onya. There must be a suitable replacement, and not in a time of chaos.”

Anya rolled her eyes. Lexa knew she wasn’t so impulsive normally, but bedrest was unbearable for warriors. Lexa knew from experience. But this aggression and frustration was extreme, even for Anya.

“Her heart hurts.” Anya griped, glaring away from Lexa and further into the empty room.

“It is childish drama.”

Anya practically growled, but with a warning glance from Lexa, settled back into her cot with a huff. “This Wells can do damage to you, Lexa. He seeks to undermine the alliance. We believe he has a Keryontai inside the Maunon. There won’t be persuading him.”

“I can’t imprison him, Anya. And before you say anything, it is not because of Clarke.” Lexa grumbled. “His father was their former leader. The Skaikru are split into factions, but they all unite in a singular reverence for Wells’ father, Thelonious kom Skaikru. He is a hero to them. Wells is a leader of the scouting faction alongside Clarke and this Bellamy they’ve mentioned. Wells holds command and respect, and a close tie to a Skaikru legend. Imprisoning or killing him would incite fighting within and among the Skaikru, and that anger would be directed in multiple directions. We’d lose the skills of the Skaikru to political discontent. This is our only chance to bring down the Maunon. Without that, the Skaikru will never be accepted into the Coalition.”

“Wells is a threat, Lexa.” Anya warned. “He is a master of lies. He had Raven questioning her place among her people with just a few sentences.”

“The best I can do is ensure that he is subverted at every turn. You made the right decision telling Raven to spy on him. What are his plans so far?”

“He’s smart. He refused to tell Raven immediately. He will most likely require her to prove her loyalty.”

Lexa remained silent. “You can vouch for her?”

Anya’s lip curled menacingly. “I will vouch for her.”

“On your honor as Trikru?”

“Sha,”

Lexa hesitated. “Then I will pardon her, for whatever she must do to gain his trust. When they are discovered and apprehended, she will not be punished.”

Anya lifted her chin, and Lexa winced at the sound of grinding teeth. “Mochof, Heda.”

Lexa looked away. “I’m not trusting her, Fos. But I trust you. It will be both of our heads if she fails.”

Anya stared down at her scratchy bedsheets. “I know.”

 

 

 

Wrangling a chance to talk to Octavia without that Trikru hawk glaring down at him was next to impossible, but Wells managed to catch her during wood chopping duties.

“So, let me get this straight. You and my brother are soulmates?”

Wells thoroughly regretted it.

“Yes,” His face burned with embarrassment. “Yeah.”

“That’s honestly hilarious. He despised you and everything you stand for, dude.”

“I’m perfectly aware.”

“It’s just. Shit.”

“I know.”

“So, why are you telling me this?”

“Because Bellamy is stuck in Mount Weather, and I don’t know if you noticed, but your new friends here want to launch a full-scale attack.”

“So?”

“So, Bellamy will be the first one to be held hostage. He’s in direct danger.” Wells grumbled, stepping closer to Octavia to avoid being overheard. “Wallace is a nice guy, but he’s not stupid and I doubt that he’s above eliminating threats. If he thinks that Bellamy has anything to do with this, he’s the first to die.”

That got under Octavia’s skin. She fidgeted, scratching at her forearms. “What do we do?”

“We need to convince the Arkers to ally with Mount Weather. They’ll shelter us.”

“Hold on,” Octavia raised a hand to stop him. “Do you know what they do to them? To the Grounders?”

Wells hesitated a second too long.

“They bleed them dry, use their blood as their own cure all remedy for their ailments. They harvest them like hogs. You see those carcasses over there draining? That’s what they do to humans. Live humans. It’s sickening. And that doesn’t even get to the Reapers.”

“Octavia-“

“No, my soulmate is in there because they think he’s an animal to be harvested and experimented on. He’s in constraints right now, being injected with something that at first was _agonizing_. He’s gotten used to it, but that doesn’t mean the burning in every vein in my body is gone.” Octavia huffed, looking carefully away from Wells’ face. “Bellamy for now is safe, he’s not being drained. But there are people in there who don’t have three days, let alone a week, let alone indefinitely. It’s our duty to stop them. Do you see the way their warriors look at us? They have hope that we can finally release them from the clutches of their children’s boogeymen. Is it not our duty to help them? To finally be contributing members of the Earth?”

“Fine.” Wells crossed his arms. “So, your soulmate is being experimented on. But what about your brother? He’s your flesh and blood. He protects you with everything he has in him. He didn’t want to go with the Mount Weather guards until they told him that you were already safe with them. It was a lie, but he won’t do anything that could possibly put you in danger. Don’t you think you owe it to him to do what’s best for his safety?”

“Don’t you dare.” Octavia spat. “My life has been nothing but ignoring my own existence so that I didn’t put my brother at risk. I didn’t have to crawl under those floorboards. I could have let them get caught, but as much protecting of me that he did, I did the same. You may not know what it’s like to have a sibling, but it’s more than duty. I am not just an extension of Bellamy Blake. I’m my own person and I need to make decisions that are for me, and the people that I care for. Bellamy will be rescued with the rest of Trikru. But not if you get in the way.”

Wells glared down his nose at the shorter girl. “Mount Weather can guarantee us all safety.”

“Let me be clear. I will not be caged inside a metal box anymore. I’ve gotten a taste of freedom. You might be able to convince some of the more fearful Skaikru that our safety should come first, but look around you. These are actual trees and actual streams and the sky is actually blue. We didn’t think we’d ever see this. You’ll have a hard time finding allies that would be willing to give this up for dark halls and windowless rooms and fluorescent lights.” Octavia didn’t wait for Wells to respond, she hefted her hatchet from its resting place imbedded in the chopping stump and stomped towards the forest to find more firewood.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhhhhhh so. Long time no see. I'm awful. But I'm also persistent? Anyway, important notes here.
> 
> WELLS IS NOT EVIL  
> Wells is not evil. Not in this fic, not in any fic. Wells is just about the only source of pureness in this goddamn show so like, Wells is not evil.  
> However, I will acknowledge that this whole chapter is kinda centered around Wells making some questionable decisions. But hopefully I made it clear that his questionable decisions come from a place of genuine care. He may be ignoring the horrendous human rights violations going on in Mount Weather, but I don't know many people who would sacrifice their family's safety for the sake of other people's suffering. It's just one of those pesky intrinsic human flaws we as a species have. But I hope I've conveyed that even the best of us can commit some pretty egregious acts, as well as excuse them, but that doesn't make any one person any less inherently good or any more inherently bad.
> 
> Anyway, I've found that season 1 Octavia's selfishness was horribly annoying and frustrating for me as a viewer back when I was watching. But now I've totally rationalized my way into her head space and as a writer a flaw that obvious and fun to play with makes writing Octavia way less intimidating tbh. She's intimidating! I'm gonna be real, I never knew quite what to make of her. At the beginning she was naive and selfish and really kinda that dumb pretty teen stereotype but then she just got so fucking badass? When I struggle to grasp someone's motivations and personality, it just makes it difficult to write according to their character. Like tertiary two dimensional characters like Titus and Gustus are easy because I can fill the gaps with headcanons. But Octavia? Homegirl is complex.
> 
> And I love it.


	21. Chapter 21

When Dante Wallace had summoned Bellamy to inform him of his friends’ return, he had expected at least two of them. But when he found a filthy and fidgeting Finn Collins waiting for him, Bellamy couldn’t contain his grimace.

“Wells is okay.” Finn rushed, before any other type of greeting. “Murphy disappeared. Good riddance. He’s probably dead at the hands of a Grounder by now.”

Bellamy crossed his arms, glancing between Finn and the President. “So, Wells is okay, but he’s not here? What’s it like out there Finn?”

Finn ran a hand through his hair nervously. “The Grounders have invaded the drop site. They have the Ark completely surrounded. It split in half. The Grounders say that the other half is to the north of here, in hostile territory.”

“All of the outside is hostile territory for people like us.” Dante grunted. “The northerners are unusually aggressive to everyone. I’ve been trying to convince Cage to open a method of communication to their Queen, outside help is invaluable around here. Most of their hostility is directed at the people of this area. What about Clarke? Did you find her? I can’t afford to lose that asset.”

“Clarke is at the Ark. Nobody can really get in and out, Wells got caught while we were eavesdropping, I made a run for it back here.” Finn ran a hand through his hair. Bellamy was beginning to suspect he wasn’t telling the truth. “They have Raven and Octavia too.”

“Octavia? Was she hurt?”

“No, she seemed fine.”

“What about that bastard Grounder?”

“We didn’t see him.” Finn furrowed his brows, and Bellamy could tell this was the first bit of information he actually knew to be true. “I don’t know where he went, but she wasn’t happy about it.”

“Good, she’s better off without him.” Bellamy grumbled. “What do we do now?”

Both boys turned to look at Dante. “Well boys, we can’t very well attack them, now could we?”

Bellamy shifted uncomfortably. “We don’t have the numbers for that.”

“Or the weapons.” Dante sighed. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to save the rest of the Ark. The rest of you will have to do.”

“What do you mean the rest of us ‘will have to do’?” Bellamy snapped. “Those are our people out there! My sister is out there! Raven and Wells are out there! We can’t just leave them out there to die at the hands of the Grounders!”

Dante gave a sad smile to Bellamy, fixing him with a pitying stare. “Bellamy, son, I understand how angry you are-“

“You sure as hell don’t.” Bellamy growled. “My sister is my responsibility, and I won’t let her be taken hostage!”

“Bellamy, I think you need to calm down.” Finn spoke firmly, probably the first time Bellamy had ever seen him take anything seriously. “Let’s go sit down for a while, rest, think. We’ll regroup when we have some ideas. Sound good, Mr. President?”

Dante nodded once to Finn. “Thank you, Mr. Collins. You boys are excused.”

“Thank you, sir.” Finn stalked forward, shoving Bellamy forward towards the door. As soon as they were through the door and down the hall, he began to whisper. “Listen, Bell. Here’s what’s going on. The Ark hasn’t been invaded, the Grounders are helping us, feeding us. Clarke, Lexa, and the Council are planning an assault on Mount Weather to break us out of here. And get the Grounders they’re draining too. I have a radio in my pants right now, Raven threw one together. Clarke wants you to play the part, gather information and help them plan.”

Bellamy stared at Finn, where was this coming from?

“But here’s the deal, Wells has a different idea, and I don’t honestly know which one we should do.”

“What’s Wells’ idea?”

“He wants us to ally with Mount Weather. He says we’ll be safe inside the mountain, but we’d have to make a move last minute. The Grounders _are_ surrounding the Ark, they could very easily turn on us if we prove a threat. Clarke just barely managed to avert a crisis a few days ago.”

“What do we do?”

“That’s up to you, man.” Finn shrugged. “I don’t see a side where people won’t die.”

Bellamy lead the way down the corridor silently for a few minutes. “If I ally with Mount Weather, we’re working with people who drain human beings for their blood, and I risk the extermination of our people. If I ally with the Grounders we could end up wiped out by a betrayal from the Grounders.”

Finn nodded. “It’s fucked man.”

“What do you think, Finn?”

Finn furrowed his brows. Bellamy had to admit he’d appreciate it if the kid would take a damn shower. He forgot how much better everything smelled once they had access to soap. “I’d trust Wells with my life.”

“But?”

“But the Commander… She’s like, really smart. She’s been dancing circles around the Council during negotiations, from what Raven and Wells say. She has ultimate control here, and she’s sent for back up from the other eleven clans. I was doing some math on my way here, and I think there could be anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of warriors on their way. Even if we sealed the doors here and used our missiles and automatic weapons, they’d kill hundreds of Arkers long before we could get them in here.” Finn hissed. “I think Wells is making the wrong call here.”

Bellamy nodded. “Okay, did they tell you the frequency to contact them at?”

“Yeah.”

“Is Octavia really okay?”

“Yeah, and her soulmate is nowhere to be found. I think he was captured by Mount Weather.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t like the guy but-“

“It’s fucked up, I know.”

 

 

 

“Clarke,” Lexa greeted her with a brief nod to the girl as she entered the tent. She glanced back to the maps scattered across her table.

“You wanted to talk to me?”

“I will be traveling to TonDC for a meeting with the top generals of the twelve clans to discuss battle strategy. I think it will be best that you accompany me to represent the Skaikru.” Lexa shrugged a single shoulder. “You understand best the limitations and strengths of your people.” Lexa paused. “It will also give Indra an opportunity to show the extent of the damage to TonDC your people will be responsible for.”

Clarke nodded. “And you want me? Not the Chancellor?”

Lexa placed her palms on the table before her, leaning slightly. She still avoided Clarke’s eyes. “My people recognize you as the leader of the Skaikru. When I organized peace talks with you before the Maunon attack, your leadership was legitimized. They are most likely to accept your presence within the war chambers rather than the Chancellor’s.”

Clarke stepped forward to glance over the maps Lexa tried to distract herself with. “Okay,”

“You will come with me then?”

“Yeah,” Clarke sunk into a chair near the table. “Sure. What’s the plan?”

Lexa glanced up to meet Clarke’s eyes. “Well, we have a few things that need to be done before we can even approach the Maunon. You said Bellamy hasn’t spoken through your device yet?”

Clarke bit back a smirk. “Yeah, he hasn’t radioed in yet. We expect him in the next few hours. Raven and Wells are taking turns monitoring the safe channels. We assumed there would be a delay, Bellamy has to find a safe place to talk where no one will overhear him, but it shouldn’t be too long.”

“Well, once we’re in contact with our inside man, we must develop as much of a map of the internal mechanisms of the Maunon hive as we can.” Lexa sat back. “After that we have to destroy the fog creator. Only once that happens can we get anywhere near the Maunon with any significant military force.”

“Okay, so after all of that, how do we go forward?”

Lexa shrugged a shoulder. “That’s the purpose of the meeting. I don’t know the full strength of the forces marching under the banner of the Coalition. How many warriors I have at my disposal for an attack so imminent depends on the time of year and the movements of the other clans in the south.”

“How so?”

Lexa gave a soft smile. “My city of Polis, where I live most of the year, acts as the Capitol of the Coalition. I have multiple interclan capitols scattered across several clans, but the main center is in Polis.” Clarke could see the giddiness in Lexa’s eyes as she explained her country. “Clans send gona to live and protect these interclan capitols, and especially Polis, so that their troops do not have to march such long distances in order to aid the clans of the Coalition. We are very far north in comparison to the Broadleaf clan, and the Blue Cliff clan must march along very difficult to traverse terrain. So, they send portions of their army to Polis, so that they may fulfill their martial duty to the Coalition. Of course, the gona have families and people to care for in their home clans, so these troops are periodically rotated between the clans and the capitols. Sometimes the number of gona within Polis varies. I will not be certain until the meeting in TonDC.”

“That sounds… fascinating.” Clarke blinked, all at once surprised at the complexity of the civilization and guilty for being surprised in the first place.

“It’s one of my best accomplishments, I think.” Lexa was clearly struggling to contain her excitement. “These gona, they bring with them the traditions and languages and food from their homes with them, and then, because they are not fighting with the other clans, they share them. Polis has tripled in size since I was a child, and it has become a hub for cultures and languages to be shared and explored. The gona go home to tell about their discoveries and friendships made with clans they would never have come into contact with without the Coalition. Right before our eyes, bonds are being forged that will last generations.” Lexa’s smile grew into a grin. “This sort of thing could never have happened while I was a child. We were too obsessed with war and destruction. We’re entering a new era, and the destruction of the Maunon will allow us to continue to grow and prosper.”

Clarke couldn’t suppress her fond smile as Lexa spoke excitedly. Lexa seemed to catch herself at seeing Clarke’s expression. She took a moment to look away and collect herself. “The point I meant to make, is that our society is much more complex, information changes rapidly. We can’t charge the Maunon with blades drawn and vicious war cries. Getting the clans to do anything together is… cumbersome.”

“I can imagine. I don’t think it’s easy to seamlessly incorporate twelve individual cultures, it’s kind of incredible how you’ve managed to do that.”

Lexa sighed, nodding to herself as she turned away to begin pacing. “Hopefully we can add a thirteenth. The fall of the Maunon will ensure your place among the clans, but it’s best that my people are used to seeing the Skaikru as an ally and organized power.”

Clarke nodded. “And they’ll see me as their leader?” She asked nervously.

“My people do not see young leaders as a negative the way your people do.” Lexa seemed to misread Clarke’s nervousness.

“It’s not that. I just, I’m not a leader.”

Lexa scoffed. “You don’t see the way your people look to you. Your people certainly seem to think of you as one.”

“They follow the Chancellor.”

“And who does the Chancellor follow?”

“No one!” Clarke rolled her eyes. “She only considers what I have to say because she’s my mother.”

Lexa gave her a skeptical look. “Are you sure? Marcus Kane seeks your advice as well. The other members of the council, they seem to appreciate your input. I think you underestimate the respect others have for you.”

Clarke shook her head. “I don’t think that’s true.”

Lexa shrugged. “You’ve kept your people alive for this long, and you’re working to secure an alliance that would keep them alive longer, is that not exactly what a leader does?”

Clarke crossed her arms. “Does it matter?”

Lexa grinned, and Clarke had to fight to keep the surprise from her face. Two genuine smiles in one conversation? Lexa was usually so stoic, Clarke was surprised she knew how. “To my people, it does. You should keep your insecurities about your place as your people’s leader to yourself.”

“Comforting.” Clarke commented dryly.

“I didn’t mean it to be.” Lexa raised an eyebrow. “My people are hounds, they can smell weakness. I have many allies, but even more enemies. In becoming my ally, you will face scrutiny. If they deem you to be weak, and by ‘you’ I mean all of Skaikru, they may decide to stamp out the weakness.”

“And somehow a young girl ‘insecure about her place’ is a weakness for all of my people?”

“Clarke, you’re not just a young girl.” Lexa rolled her eyes. “You can’t think like that; it will get you killed. I am only bringing you for a reason. You know that the Council is split, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kaplan formed his own faction in an attempt to seize the Chancellorship from your mother. Kane follows your mother, but he still questions her decisions, as any advisor should. But in front of a war party? Your people cannot be seen arguing. Your leader cannot be seen asking for permission from anyone. If you believe you don’t belong there, that you are not powerful, they believe that all of your people are weak. They have no leader, and a people without a leader is disorganized, and disorganization quickly becomes a threat.” Lexa explained. “Anya approaching your people before we were taken by the Maunon, that was just as much an invitation as a scouting mission. If no clear leader emerged from your people… I would have ordered the Trikru to attack.” She admitted, at least she had the decency to look embarrassed. “I’m glad it didn’t come to that.”

Clarke stared off in the distance. That could have been tragic, a story worthy of Shakespearean plays. Come to think of it, Romeo and Juliet had been frighteningly similar. What would have happened had she died before meeting Lexa? Clarke couldn’t imagine Lexa would handle unknowingly killing her soulmate well. Would she feel guilty over the death of someone she had never known?

That line of questions was useless. Clarke decided. It hadn’t happened, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the war meeting in TonDC. She had to gather the necessary information to report to Lexa and the other clan leaders from her mother. Not to mention she had to tell her mother that she wasn’t invited. She needed to make sure Raven and Wells knew what to do when Bellamy radioed in. She ought to check in on Octavia. They hadn’t spoken much since the Grounders met them at the dropship, but Clarke was curious about Lincoln. He’d been caught by the ripa, but Octavia said he was still alive, which indicated to Clarke that he hadn’t been eaten. If the ripa hadn’t eaten him, then what happened to Lincoln? Octavia had said they weren’t draining him of blood.

“What do you think the ripa are?” Clarke barely had the presence of mind to direct the question to Lexa, though she wasn’t particularly listening for an answer.

“You know what the ripa are.” Lexa furrowed her brows, setting down across from Clarke and leaning back in her chair, she crossed her legs and took to fidgeting with her knife in her hands. “You were there when we escaped. They were the people attacking us in the tunnels.”

“No, I mean what made them that way?”

Lexa shrugged. “There are theories among my people that the Maunon feed on the souls of our warriors. They suck them out and dispose of the shells. Sometimes the bodies don’t completely die- usually the best warriors- they escape and wreak havoc as soulless monsters. The skills and knowledge of the land still locked inside, but their sense of self gone. They say that the Maunon strikes deals with the ripa, that if they do their bidding for long enough, they may have their souls back.” Lexa shook her head. “Obviously that’s not what’s happening, but… my people don’t have the same insight into the motivations of the Maunon.”

Clarke moved to cross her legs, mirroring Lexa without realizing it. “Well, we know it’s not souls or whatever, the Maunon harvests blood, not spirits.” Clarke paused. “I’m going to ask Octavia to describe what she feels. If I’m right… I think the Maunon is turning Lincoln into a ripa. If we can get even the slightest understanding of that whole process, we could combat them more safely during the siege.”

Lexa nodded, frowning. “Clarke, we won’t be able to fix them. You know that right? There is no cure for what they do. When the time comes, all of the ripa must die.”

“No, I think there’s a chance. Whatever they’re doing. It’s gotta be drastic, but not irreversible. Call it a gut feeling.”

“We can’t save everybody, Clarke.” Lexa was tired, suddenly. The way her shoulders sagged, the sadness in her eyes as she looked back up to meet Clarke’s eyes. Her lips twitched at the obstinate glare she received. “Believe me when I say that I’ve tried. The dead are gone, the living are hungry.”

“Lincoln’s not dead.”

“But is he really still Lincoln?” Lexa countered. “He looks like Lincoln, but when we see him again, he won’t be Lincoln anymore. It will be better for him to put him down.”

“And what about Octavia?” Clarke snapped back, a tightness in her chest growing in sympathy for the younger girl. Clarke knew that Lexa was probably right, but she couldn’t just accept that Octavia would lose her soulmate at such a young age.

Lexa lowered her knife and brought her hand up to rub at the bridge of her nose. The aching in Clarke’s chest grew just slightly, Lexa’s pain serving to compound on her own. “The pain will be unbearable for a few days. No one person was meant to carry everything within themselves all alone. It will hurt. But she is strong, she must be to become Indra’s second. She will learn to bear it. It will be worse for her to continue allowing Lincoln to live and kill indiscriminately. I’d rather one young girl recover from that agony than to allow dozens of others to feel the same crushing pain because Lincoln was allowed to live.”

“You don’t think that’s callous?”

Lexa frowned, staring off to another world, another time. “These are the decisions leaders make, Clarke. One man and his soulmate’s burden or a dozen others? It is my responsibility to protect my people.”

There was silence for a few moments. Before she could stop herself, Clarke blurted out: “What about me?”

Lexa’s blank expression unnerved Clarke. “What about you?”

“If I were a ripa and there was a possibility you could heal me, would you try? Or would you just kill me and move on with your life?” Clarke asked bitterly. She’d admit she was baiting Lexa, trying to make her angry, but what was there to do? She couldn’t possibly be so heartless.

“If you were a ripa,” Lexa hesitated. “I’d kill you before you killed anyone else.”

Clarke scoffed. “You say that, but would you really be able to?”

That sparked a fire in Lexa’s eyes, and Clarke had the distinct feeling she had pushed too far. “I held the severed head of my _houmon_ in my hands knowing she had suffered for weeks on end before she was mercifully killed and delivered to my bedside.” Lexa stood, her face darkening as the light shifted across her face. Clarke tried not to look outwardly fearful, even as the tightness in her chest seared. “If it comes to it, _Klark_ , I think I can grit my teeth.”

Lexa swept from the tent, and Clarke had to work to calm her breathing.

 

 

 

Anya just wanted to sleep. Her head ached, her chest ached, and the bright, unnatural lights of the hospital burned her eyes. She would nap, but she couldn’t with the constant, rhythmic tapping of feet pacing before her bed. _Reivon_ wouldn’t leave her alone during Wells’ radio monitoring shifts.

“ _Skaion_ , sit down and let me sleep.” Anya grunted, shifting slightly in the bed to a more comfortable position. “I have to put up with Heda’s pacing all the time. I need rest.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Finn is in there.”

“Wasn’t that the boy who lied to you?”

“Yeah,” Raven frowned, pausing in her path across the floor. “He’s still family.”

“He’s a coward.” Anya grunted. She closed her eyes again to block out those awful lights. “ _Branwada_.” She muttered.

“ _Branwada_ , does that mean coward?”

“No,”

Raven waited for Anya to elaborate. Anya held back her smirk, she liked messing with the _skaion_. And one thing that never failed to get under Raven’s skin was to pique her curiosity and then never give her answers.

“You do that shit on purpose!”

“Of course,” Anya didn’t bother to hide her smirk.

“But what does it really mean?”

“You’ll be mad. It wasn’t nice.” Anya baited further.

Raven groaned. “That doesn’t help! What does it mean?”

Anya considered it for a moment. “Guess.”

Raven finally took a seat next to Anya’s bed, and Anya considered it a victory. “So, you said it while we were talking about Finn. So, it has to describe him.”

“Sha,” Anya confirmed slowly, she refused to open her eyes. She had the distinct feeling that opening her eyes and looking at Raven’s face right that second would push her down a path she could never turn away from. That didn’t mean that Anya knew exactly what she looked like when she was trying to solve a puzzle, the furrow of her brows, head cocked to the side, eyes darting back and forth like she was reading every word she had ever seen over again in her head.

Anya didn’t need to look.

“Okay. So, it describes Finn… who else does it describe? Can it only describe people?”

Anya lost her own internal battle and turned to look at her. Sure enough, she had been completely correct, only confirmed by her quickened pulse. “It describes most of the _Skaikru_. There are only a couple of exceptions.”

“Who are the exceptions?”

“Now that would reveal too much.”

“That’s not fair!” Raven rolled her eyes. “You can’t mention exceptions and then refuse to elaborate, that’s not how the game works!”

“Aren’t you supposed to ask the questions? I’ll answer direct questions only, no vague ones.” Anya scoffed.

“And how is ‘what are the exceptions to the rule’ anything _but_ direct and specific?” Raven argued, and much to Anya’s relief, the worry and anxiety melted away to reveal Raven’s amusement. She was getting good at this.

“Fine, I would say, Octavia is an exception. Clarke, on a good day. You, upon occasion.” Anya attempted nonchalance.

“Upon occasion, huh?” Raven fell silent. “So, it describes Finn, but also all of the Skaikru in general, except for the three of us. But it doesn’t necessarily apply all the time.”

Anya only grunted, watching Raven stare off again to work through it herself.

“You said it after calling Finn a coward, but it doesn’t mean coward. So, is it safe to assume it doesn’t mean anything good?”

Anya shrugged her good shoulder. “I suppose. It’s not a particularly kind thing to say, no.”

“Shocking.” Raven deadpanned, letting the slightest hint of a smile shine through as she glanced at Anya again. “Doesn’t mean a coward. Doesn’t describe Octavia, Clarke, or me. Doesn’t apply all the time. Are some people more of a _branwada_ than others?”

“Most definitely.”

Raven leaned back in her seat, and Anya saw all of the pieces seem to click together. “Does it describe kindness?”

“No,”

“Okay, what about liar?”

“No,”

“Come on! Just one more hint, Anya! I’ve almost got it!” Raven begged.

“If you almost have it then you don’t need another hint.” Anya mocked, grinning.

“Whatever.” Raven crossed her arms. “I’ll ask someone else.”

“Ah, that’s okay. I guess you’re just not smart enough-“

“Fuck you!” Raven grumbled. “It describes Finn, _in your opinion_. And _in your opinion,_ there are only a couple of exceptions out of the _Skaikru_ , one of those being me. You said it was mean to say, which makes me think that the exceptions you named are just the people you like.”

“Who said I liked you?”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with kindness, honesty, or bravery. What else do I have that Finn doesn’t, _in your opinion_.” Raven glared at Anya. Anya glared back, maybe if she glared hard enough, that knowing look would go away. She felt like Raven could see everything going on in her head, and she wasn’t prepared for it.

So, Anya did what Anya did best. She got surly.

“You know, there were at least two other people on that list.”

Raven scoffed. “Please, I’m the only one that matters. Everyone knows that.”

“Right, whatever you say.”

Raven went back to the staring, and Anya wasn’t sure what to do. That is, until Raven’s expression morphed into utter glee. “Holy shit, _Branwada_ means ‘idiot’ and you think I’m smart!”

“Are you sure? Because-“

“You think I’m brilliant!” Raven cackled in her seat, head thrown back. Anya couldn’t bring herself to be angry. “I knew you secretly liked me!”

Anya rolled her eyes, and if she pouted a little, she wouldn’t admit it. “I put up with you, that’s what this is.”

“Uh huh,” Raven grinned. “None of this was actually a ploy to distract me from worrying about Finn?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you _like_ me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit yall. I think that's all I can really say at this point? But I guess I can kinda tell you whats been up in the last few months that has taken priority over this.  
> Since the last update I have:  
> -Trained for, tested for, and earned another black belt  
> -Finished yet another semester of undergrad  
> -Helped the rugby team get to the finals in our matrix (we lost but like, it was only the second time ever we've gotten that far? And the last time was last year, so, we on a roll bruh)  
> -Broken and (mostly) healed my hand (this is in direct relation to the black belt thing. Broke the hand, won the fight. That's all that matters)  
> -applied for, been accepted to, and started grad school, alongside working on my undergrad degree
> 
> So I've been BUSY as all hell. I hope yall will forgive me. I've got a LOT of really fun and interesting stuff going on outside of writing, and I've recently gotten back into art. I made an insta, it's bare bones rn but feel free to follow me @ballpointpenning That all being said, this fic as well as OotS are still on track to getting done. I haven't found anything more interesting to move on to, so I don't plan on going anywhere.
> 
> As for the chapter itself, it's not my favorite. It's a whole lot of character and world development rather than plot moving, and I guess that's fine and all for fanfic, but it's still not my favorite thing I've got going on in this fic. Though I hope to be using some of the details that come out of this chapter throughout the rest of this story. I'm at a bit of a fork in the road rn, and one side takes me down a different road than the other, so I think we'll be seeing some directional shifts in the next couple of chapters. But then again, all of this is unplanned, stream of consciousness so I don't really know. We'll see yeah? Lol.


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